Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State has vowed to investigate alleged illegal deductions of gratuities of pensioners under the administration of former governor, Abdullahi Ganduje. The Governor stated this while flagging off the second phase of the payment of gratuities and death benefits amounting to N5 billion to about 4,000 retirees in the state on Saturday....Read The Full Story Here ▶
Governor Yusuf said his administration had no records or documents indicating such deducted monies were returned to the government coffers by the previous government.
He however pointed out that the state government, therefore, could not pay such monies to the retirees as there are no documents to support the payments.
“We are handicapped; we are constrained that we cannot trace your pension monies deducted by the previous administration in the state.
“We have done all the necessary checks to trace the deducted money from your pensions but we could not trace a single Kobo, hence the need to advise you to initiate the effort to recover your money,” he said.
Governor Yusuf, therefore, advised the state branch of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners, NUP, to officially write a complaint to the State Government, asking for the whereabouts of their money.
He said the government on its part would institute an investigation and that whoever is found to have diverted the money would be made to undergo the necessary legal processes to return it.
He said the State Government would, thereafter, assist in returning the deducted monies to the retirees.
Governor Yusuf recalled that the State Government had in the first phase paid the beneficiaries the sum of N6 billion, bringing the total sum to N11 billion.
He said his administration would continue to pay the retirees and families of deceased civil servants their entitlements to enable them to cater for their families and other needs and settle the backlog of over N40 billion unpaid pension gratuity and death benefits.
“The monies we are paying you today are your entitlements; they are not Empowerments; they are your rights,” Governor Yusuf noted.
Meanwhile, a total of 4,000 retirees and families of deceased civil servants are to receive their entitlements in the second phase of the payment.
