Matthew Otoijagha
Kano state government yesterday began the payment of N2 billion eight months pension arrears to the retired civil servants.
Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, who inaugurated the payment yesterday at the Government House, disclosed that the arrears, which covered between November 2015 and June 2017, have 1,313 beneficiaries. The government disclosed that over N9 billion outstanding gratuities that it inherited from immediate past administration had already been settled.
Ganduje explained that worried by the backlog of pension and gratuity arrears, his administration constituted an eight-member technical committee to evaluate the outstanding arrears and recommend strategic plan payment.
The permanent secretary establishment, office of the head of Civil service, headed the committee.
Represented by Deputy Governor Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna, Ganduje noted that the administration, since assumption of office, had paid over N36 billion as monthly benefits to the pensioners, and over N9 billion to 5,858 pensioners across the state.
The governor assured sustainability of monthly pension payment, and restated commitment to the settlement of the second trench of the payment, which covered from June to December 2016. He added that apart from looking into quick payment of the outstanding arrears, terms of referrers of the technical committee on pensions is to among other things, improve the 2006 Pension law.
This, he, said is to look into the possibility of amending the relevant sections of the law to strengthen the Pensions Fund and insulate it from the executive arbitrariness.