Pensioners in Zamfara State are expressing their distress over the non-payment of their pensions for the past four months.
Several pensioners, expressed the hardships they were facing, struggling to provide even basic meals for their families.
One pensioner named Mohammed Aminu shared that he had resorted to selling most of his possessions in order to feed his family, expressing his inability to afford a proper meal each day.
Aminu appealed to Governor Dauda Lawal to address the issue of the four-month pension arrears, emphasizing the urgent need to alleviate the dire situation faced by numerous devastated pensioners trapped in extreme poverty.
However, Aminu also pointed out that the former Governor Bello Mattawalle was accountable for the pensioners’ plight since they were not paid for three months during his tenure.
“We are not blaming the present Governor of the state, Dauda Lawal, for the situation we are in at the moment because he inherited this mess from his predecessor, Bello Mattawalle”.
Another pensioner who choose to remain anonymous said that he was unable to pay for his three children’s school fees, resulting in their expulsion from school after receiving multiple warnings from the school’s proprietor.
“I am ashamed of myself because my children are no longer attending classes despite my position as former director in one of the state ministries,” he said.
Also speaking, a retired permanent secretary who begged for anonymity said that that he has sold the only family car in order to buy ram and food items for Sallah celebration.
“I tried my best to get a loan in order to buy food items and ram for Eid El Kabir celebration, but nobody was ready to give me credit because I am heavily indebted due to the nonpayment of four months’ pension”.
“For this reason, I sold the only car I have at give-away price so that I could buy food items and ram for Layya.”.
“I want to use this medium to appeal to our caring Governor to please do something to bail us out of this hopeless situation”.
Malam Mustafa Jafaru Kaura, the Senior Special Assistant to Governor Dauda Lawal on Broadcast Media, Press, and Public Affairs, stated that plans were underway to address the pensioners’ situation and ensure they receive their payments, similar to the approach taken for civil servants.
Jafaru said the pensioners would very soon smile, adding that “Their issue is currently being discussed and action will soon be taken”.
He reiterated that the delay in pension payments was due to numerous irregularities found in the retired civil servants’ list.
He mentioned that some retired civil servants had passed away long ago, yet their names remained on the payment vouchers.
Furthermore, he clarified that the non-payment of three months’ pension was an issue inherited from the previous administration under former Governor Bello Mattawalle.
