Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago of Niger State has reiterated his commitment to ensuring the payment of gratuities to all retirees in the state.
He emphasised that his government, through the Niger State Pensions Board, will continue the payment process until every pensioner has been captured and paid their entitlement.
The Director General of the Niger State Pensions Board, Alhaji Nasiru Sa’idu Namaska, made this disclosure during the flag-off of the third batch’s issuance of cheques to beneficiaries.
He said the State Governor, Hon. Umaru Bago, had directed him to persist with the payment exercise until every retiree is paid, stressing, “I assure you that the exercise will not stop until every pensioner in the state is captured and paid.”
According to Namaska, the gratuities will continue to be paid in batches, and the compilation of names for the fourth batch has already been completed.
He further stated that as soon as the fourth batch is finished, they will move to the fifth batch, continuing until every retiree has received their cheque.
He highlighted that the governor has given them clear directives and assured that they will not let him down.
Alhaji Namaska also disclosed that the digitalisation of the pension board has made their work easier, enabling them to accurately determine the number of pensioners, their monthly pensions, and their gratuities.
“We don’t want a situation where we pay a monthly pension or gratuity to the wrong person. I’m assuring you that I am 100 per cent confident in the list I generated for this payment of gratuities,” he said.
He further mentioned that the Board now has a comprehensive database of pensioners, making it easy to identify genuine pensioners and determine what is due to each person.
With this database, pensioners can now collect their statements of account and pay slips, just as they would in a bank. Additionally, they can visit the pension board to access their gratuities, which will be generated and provided for their records.
Alhaji Namaska disclosed that the board had been receiving complaints about gratuity payments, particularly concerning issues of underpayment.
He explained, “There was a reversion when civil servants were moved from the new pension scheme back to the old pension scheme. What we compute here for payment is what they are supposed to receive, and no pensioner is being underpaid in this exercise,” he added.
ALSO READ THESE TOP STORIES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
and then