Iliyasu Abdullahi Bah
The Gombe State Government has approved ₦6.563 billion for the payment of outstanding gratuities to retirees from 2021 to 2023.
Ismaila Misilli, the Director-General of Press Affairs, disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday following the 48th State Executive Council (SEC) meeting chaired by Governor Muhammadu Yahaya.
According to Muhammad Magaji, Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development, the funds will be released in three installments, October 2024 ₦1.954 billion for 2021 retirees, November 2024 ₦2.267 billion for 2022 retirees and December 2024 ₦2.342 billion for 2023 retirees respectively.
Magaji noted that the state had already settled gratuities from 2014 to 2020, inherited by the Yahaya administration upon taking office in 2019. At that time, unpaid gratuity arrears stood at over ₦21 billion for state and local government retirees.
Since then, the government has cleared more than ₦17 billion of the backlog. “This reflects our commitment to social justice, accountability, and respect for workers’ rights,” Magaji stated.
The latest approval moves the state closer to fully liquidating the remaining gratuity liabilities, easing years of financial strain on retirees.
In a related decision, the SEC also approved ₦299 million to settle entitlements for former staff of the defunct Gombe State Investment and Property Development Company.