Zamfara State Governor Dauda Lawal has cleared N9,357,743,281.35 in gratuity payments owed to workers since 2011.
The governor had approved the commencement of these backlog payments in February this year.
According to a statement issued on Saturday by the governor’s spokesperson, Sulaiman Bala Idris, the government has paid N4,860,613,699.22 to retired state workers in nine installments.
Additionally, a total of N4,497,129,582.13 has been disbursed to local government workers.
He said: “In his commitment to reform the Zamfara state civil service, in February, Governor Lawal established a committee to verify and authenticate the Zamfara State pensioners who had not been paid gratuities since 2011.
“So far, 2,666 out of the 3,880 verified pensioners have been paid their total gratuity entitlements, amounting to N4,860,613,699.22, out of the total amount owed by previous administrations. These payments have been made to beneficiaries who retired between 2015 and 2024.
“On the other hand, 3,840 out of 4804 verified retired Local Government and Primary School Teachers have so far been paid in nine (9) batches to the tune of N4,497,129,582.13. The Local Government Gratuity outstanding total payable arrears was N5,688,230,607.20, of which N4,497,129,582.13 has been paid to date. The beneficiaries of the payments are those who retired between 2011- 2021.
“In summary, therefore, the state has so far paid a combined total of N9,357,743,281.35 as gratuity out of the cumulative sum of N13,784,179,513.80 owed by the state to a total number of 6,506 verified retired beneficiaries out of the 8,684 the total verified retired beneficiaries. The beneficiaries of the payments are those who retired between 2011- 2024.”