The Taraba state government Thursday commenced payment of gratuity for 1, 288 retirees in the state.
Executive Secretary, Local Government Staff Pensions Board, Alhaji Ahmed Inuwa, while presenting cheques to the retirees in Jalingo, said before the coming of Governor Darius Ishaku, state retirees suffered years of non-payment of benefits which caused untold hardship to the senior citizens.
He explained that on assumption of office, Governor Darius was confronted with myriads of challenges including debilitating and despicable volumes of liabilities of pension and gratuity running into billions.
“Worried and concerned about the negative effect of the non-payment of gratuities, Governor Ishaku intervened and ordered for immediate payment of gratuity to retirees to reduce their suffering,” he said.
He noted that the story of local government retirees was virtually the most challenging one in the past, adding that the coming of Governor Darius Ishaku has put smiles on their faces.
“His Excellency in his usual way ordered for a review of the pension situation and conducted a biometric exercise of local government pensioners which was carried out by the UBA and in conjunction with the Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs in 2017.
The exercise was a huge success as servings were made, deceased pensioners expunged, pensioners’ data and its retrieval system was greatly improved.
The success recorded during the biometric exercise informed the decision of Governor Darius Ishaku to grant approval for the enrolment of all the 1,288 retirees,” he explained.
