The Ebonyi State Government has cleared 2,099 retirees’ gratuities from 1996 to 2023.
This was contained in a statement made available to newsmen on Sunday by the Commissioner for Information and State Orientation, Jude Chikadibia Okpor, in Abakiliki.
As of Thursday, May 9, 2024, the last batch (Phase 11) of 256 retirees from 1996 and 2021, had been cleared and paid in full, for a total gratuity of three hundred and ninety-four million, nine hundred and seven thousand, seven hundred and eighty-four naira, and ninety-one kobo (N394,907,784.91).
Also cleared and paid during the seven-day exercise were 277 retirees between 2022 and 2023, with the total gratuity paid amounting to one billion, thirty million, nine hundred and seventy-two thousand, eight hundred and seventy naira, and five kobo (N1,030,972,870.05).
According to the statement, the Ebonyi State Government has cleared all arrears of gratuity owed retirees from the creation of the state in 1996 to 2023, with a total gratuity sum of five billion, thirty-six million, two hundred and eleven thousand, one hundred and four naira, and six Kobo (N5,036,211,140.6) paid to a total of 2,099 retirees.
Further breakdown of the total sum and beneficiaries revealed that the Nwifuru administration in the first phase of the exercise paid a total of three billion, six hundred and thirty thousand, four hundred and eighty-five naira, and sixty-four kobo (N3,610,330,485.64) to 1,566 retirees, who patiently awaited their entitlement from 1996 to 2021.
A total of 533 retirees were cleared and paid a total gratuity of one billion, four hundred and twenty-five million, eight hundred and eighty thousand, six hundred and fifty-four naira, and ninety-six kobo (N1, 425,880,654.96) in the second phase.