Zamfara State government has verified a total of 3,079 retirees to enable it pay the backlog of gratuities by previous administrations.
Retired state and local government workers in Zamfara State have not received their gratuities since 2011.
A statement by senior special adviser on media to the governor, Sulaiman Bala Idris, revealed that a total of 1,746 pensioners from both the state and local governments received two tranches of payment amounting to N2.3billion.
Idris said the second tranche of verified pensioners’ gratuity payments began last Friday, bringing relief to the retirees who had been waiting for their entitlements for years.
“Tremendous progress has been made in verifying state and local government pensioners. Payment for the second tranche of verified pensioners’ gratuity commenced on Friday, March 1, 2024.
“A total of 413 verified pensioners from the state have been paid a sum of about NGN 682.228 million.
“Also, the payment of the second tranche of verified pensioners from local governments has commenced. A total of 403 verified pensioners from the local governments, amounting to N449.667 million have been paid.
“Of the 3079 pensioners who have been verified, 1746 have received their gratuity payments in two tranches from both the state and local governments. The total amount paid so far is N2.312 billion.
“The process of verifying and authenticating retirees is still ongoing, with payments being made to those who have been cleared,” he said.