By Christopher Ameh, Bauchi
BAUCHI — The Bauchi State Government has commenced the disbursement of N117 billion to clear outstanding gratuities owed to 5,736 retired civil servants whose benefits have been unpaid since 2012.
Deputy Governor Auwal Jatau, who announced the development on behalf of Governor Bala Mohammed, said the payment was part of a renewed strategy to address pension liabilities inherited from previous administrations
According to validated government records, the outstanding gratuity obligation stands at N11,704,200,22183, covering retirees between 2012 and 2016.
The breakdown shows that N6,132,505,44444 is owed to 3,570 state government retirees, while N5,579,694,779.39 is owed to 2,256 local government retirees.
The government has approved an initial N10 billion for the exercise, which will be paid in batches based on the age of the debt, availability of funds, completeness of documentation and successful verification
A committee led by a former Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Sabiu Baba, is coordinating the exercise in collaboration with the Bauchi State Contributory Pension Commission, which is responsible for validating and reconciling pensioners’ records
The first phase will cover local government retirees from the 2012–2013 period and state civil service retirees from 2013
The government said retirees outside the initial phase would not be excluded, assuring that the payment exercise would continue until the backlog was cleared
It acknowledged that many pensioners had waited for more than a decade for their benefits, while some had died before receiving their entitlements
The government consequently directed the pension commission, Head of Service and participating commercial banks to eliminate bureaucratic bottlenecks, corruption and favouritism in the payment process
It also directed verification teams to give priority to elderly and physically challenged retirees during screening
Pensioners were urged to cooperate with verification officials and provide the required documents to facilitate payment
The latest intervention builds on previous efforts by the state government to address pension obligations Under its 2025 budget, the government allocated N5 billion for gratuities and N8.5 billion for pensions as part of its social benefits programme.
Beyond clearing the current backlog, the government said it was working towards establishing a fully automated pension system to prevent the accumulation of unpaid retirement benefits in the future