Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, has approved the quarterly release of N340 million as payment of gratuity to 1193 retirees of state and local governments in the state.
Suleiman Nagogo, the director-general, State Pension Bureau, made the disclosure at a press briefing held in Lafia, the state capital.
The Pension DG said, the approval of the N340 million was to offset gratuity of 576 and 614 Local Government and State retirees respectively, aimed at alleviating the plights of retirees in the state.
Nagogo explained that the present administration had inherited a backlog of debt of gratuity and pension benefits of retirees at both the State and Local Government levels from successive administrations in the state.
“Upon my assumption of office, I discovered that the magnanimous posture of Abdullahi Sule knows no bounds and that is why his government has continued to attend to the plights of Pensioners in the state.
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“The Governor swung into action by offsetting the backlog of Pension arrears witnessed in January 2022 for Local Government Pensioners as well as approved quarterly release of N340 million to pay a gratuity of both State and Local Government retirees.
“Apart from this, there were litigations at various courts of law filed by pensioners against the state government. These dispositions were worrisome to His Excellency, considering the fact that these Pensioners had served the state meritoriously and needed not to be treated shabbily.
“In addition, the Governor took bold steps at settling their grievances through Out-of-Court Settlement which brought about the relative peace and harmony between the aggrieved Pensioners and the State Government,” Nagago maintained.
He pledged the Bureau’s readiness to continue to support the cause of governance in the state.
Nagogo, assured of the state government’s commitment to attending to the plights of retirees as a show of appreciation for the services they rendered to the state.
The DG, therefore, called on the people of the state to continue to support the Governor Sule-led administration to enable him to provide the dividends of democracy to the people.
