Zamfara State Governor Dauda Lawal has made significant strides in addressing the backlog of gratuity payments to retired workers, disbursing over N4 billion to retirees with outstanding entitlements dating back to 2011.
In a statement released on Friday, the Governor’s spokesperson, Sulaiman Bala Idris, outlined the progress made in clearing the backlog of gratuity for state and local government workers. The process began in February with the authentication and validation of retired workers’ records.
According to the statement, the Zamfara State government has paid a total of N4,337,087,492.06 in four batches to retirees. This initiative is part of Governor Lawal’s broader efforts to sanitize the civil service and fulfill the government’s obligations to retired workers.
“In February, Governor Dauda Lawal established a committee to validate retirees’ data and address the accumulated gratuity debt since 2011,” the statement read. “Following the data verification process, it was discovered that the state and local governments owed a total of N13.4 billion in gratuity arrears.”
The first three tranches of payments covered 1,088 verified state pensioners, with a total of N1,836,836,018.95 disbursed. The fourth batch of payments, made this month, provided gratuity arrears to 284 verified state pensioners, totaling N499,435,942.42, bringing the total payment for state pensioners to N2,336,271,961.37.
Additionally, a total of 1,744 retired local government workers and primary school teachers who retired between 2011 and 2018 have been paid N2,000,815,530.69 in four batches.
Governor Lawal’s administration has emphasized that the ongoing gratuity payments demonstrate a commitment to fulfilling promises and providing relief to retired workers who have been waiting for years to receive their benefits.
“The ongoing gratuity payment is a remarkable achievement, and it is expected to provide some relief to the beneficiaries who have been waiting for years to receive their entitlements,” the statement concluded.
