Gov. Babagana Zulum of Borno State has approved the payment of gratuity arrears to second batch of 1,000 retirees in the state.
Mr Isa Gusau, the Special Adviser, Public Relations and Strategy to the governor, made the disclosure in a statement issued on Sunday in Maiduguri.
Mr Gusau, who did not give details of the amount approved, said the funds were released under the second batch of the payment exercise to offset backlog of gratuity arrears owed the retirees.
He said that the exercise targeted middle cadre workers who retired from service between 2013 and 2019, adding that the payment had since commenced through the accounts of the benefiting retirees.
“As directed by the governor; payment is to continue steadily to cover 50 per cent of each of the 1, 000 retirees total gratuity. The balance of the 50 per cent will surely be paid under next phase of the exercise.
“The idea of paying 50 per cent is aim to speedily reach as many retired workers as possible.
“Lists of the beneficiaries will be made public on Monday; and anyone unable to confirm payment into his or her bank account, is required to file a complaint through the union of pensioners so that it gets to office of the Head of Service, which coordinates the payments,“ Mr Gusau said.
He said that with the adoption of the negotiated modality of payment, accumulated gratuity arrears would soon be cleared.
The governor’s aid noted that payments of monthly pension to the retirees had been regular in the past eight years in the state.
According to him, the government had in July 2019, settled gratuity arrears of 1, 684 retirees under the first batch of the exercise.
The official added that the government had in August, settled outstanding leave grants to 9, 898 workers.
He said the government had also settled the gratuities for families of 185 deceased pensioners and granted compassionate payment to another families of 236 deceased pensioners.
