By Oyinkansayo Wole-Bodunde.
Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum has given the green light for the release of N8 billion to settle the outstanding pensions and gratuities of retired primary school teachers and other civil servants in the state.
This move aims to clear the liabilities that have accumulated from 2019 to 2021.
Governor Zulum made this announcement on Wednesday at the council chamber of the Government House in Maiduguri, highlighting his administration’s commitment to paying off debts owed to retirees. He noted that since taking office in 2019, his administration has already paid out around N25 billion in gratuities to those who have worked with local and state governments.
Zulum emphasized his dedication to clearing the backlog of gratuities and pensions, saying, “Since I took over in 2019 to date, we have paid about N25bn for the settlement of gratuities for those that have worked with local and state governments.”
He also made a pledge to settle all outstanding gratuities before the end of his tenure in 2027. He said, “Insh’Allah, I will clear all the backlog of gratuities before I leave office in 2027.”
This isn’t the first time Governor Zulum has taken steps to address the issue of outstanding gratuities. Previously, he released N3 billion between June and September 2019 to clear the gratuities of 1,684 retirees who left the civil service between 2013 and 2019.
Also in 2020, he disbursed over N12 billion for retirees who left both the state and local government civil service between 2013 and 2017.
