Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State has vowed to investigate alleged illegal deductions of gratuities of pensioners under the administration of former governor, Abdullahi Ganduje.
The governor stated this while flagging off the second phase of the payment of gratuities and death benefits amounting to N5 billion to about 4,000 retirees in the state on Saturday.
According to the governor, his administration had no records of the pension monies of the retirees deducted by the previous government.
Mr Yusuf pointed out that the state Government, therefore, could not pay such monies to the affected retirees as there are no documents to support the payments.
“We are handicapped; we are constrained that we cannot trace your pension monies deducted by the previous administration in the state.
“We have done all the necessary checks to trace the deducted money from your pensions but we could not trace a single Kobo,hence the need to advise you to initiate effort to recover your money,” he said.
Mr Yusuf, therefore, advised the state branch of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners, NUP, to officially write a complaint to the State Government, asking for the whereabouts of their money.
He said the government on its part would institute and investigation and that whoever is found to have diverted the money would be subjected to legal processes to recover it.
He said the State Government would, thereafter, assist in returning the deducted monies to the retirees.
Mr Yusuf recalled that the State Government had in the first phase paid the beneficiaries the sum of N6 billion, bringing the total sum to N11 billion.
He said his administration would continue to pay the retirees and families of deceased civil servants their entitlements to enable them cater for their families.
“The monies we are paying you today are your entitlements; they are not empowerments; they are your rights,” the governor added.
A total of 4,000 retirees and families of deceased civil servants receive their entitlements in the second phase of the payment.
