The governor of Zamfara State, Dauda Lawal, has revealed that his government inherited a total sum of N13 billion as unpaid pension and gratuity from previous administrations in the State.
Lawal made this statement during an interview with TVC on Wednesday in Abuja.
The northwest governor stated that these pensions and gratuities date back to 2011, 13 years before his administration.
However, he noted that his administration has managed to settle around N9 billion of the debt owed to Zamfara workers, adding that the remaining balance will be cleared in the coming months.
According to Lawal, the state is burdened with various accumulated debt backlogs from the previous administration, including sectors such as education, electricity, and water resources, which his government is diligently working to resolve.
“We inherited a very emptied treasury with the backlog of 4 months salaries of Zamfara State workers. We are able to settle that. We are to settle N1.3 billion NECO. We are able to settle N1.4 billion WAEC. We were able to settle N1.4 Kedco because when we took over almost all the ministries, including the government house were disconnected from electricity.
“Since 2011, Zamfara has not paid pension and gratuity to the tune of N13.4 billion. Guess what? We have already cleared about N9 billion as of today. The remaining balance will be paid within the next couple of months,” Lawal said.
Increase in Minimum Wage
Furthermore, he stated that the state increased its minimum wage to N30,000 after he assumed office, as workers had previously been earning a meagre N7,000 per month.
He also highlighted that the state has significantly boosted its internally generated revenue from N90 million to an impressive N1.2 billion.
According to Lawal, under his leadership, the state is witnessing a resurgence in economic activities and a rise in employment opportunities.
“Prior to my assumption into office, our IGR in Zamfara State was just under N90 million. Now, we’ve been able to move our IGR from that to at least N1.2 billion. And it’s increasing on month by month basis.
“When I took over the minimum wage for Zamfara State was just N7,000 monthly. We had to quickly do what we had to do to increase it to at least the previous minimum wage of N30,000. We now employing more people. There’s a lot of economic activities within the State,” Lawal added.
What you should know
The payment of pensions and gratuities by the sub-national government has always been an issue of contention in the country, with some States struggling with decades of unpaid pensions for workers.
- In 2004, Nigeria embarked on one of the most successful reforms in its history with the enactment of the Pension Reform Act (PRA 2004).
- Yet despite this reform, the country still has various challenges in paying the pension of workers.
- With the reform came the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), which has been regarded by most Nigerians as an outstanding success story in Nigeria. Under CPS, it is mandatory for employers and employers in the public service and private sector with a certain number of employees to make a minimum contribution towards the retirement benefits of these employees.
- There is also the contribution by the employees themselves, which is akin to compulsory savings towards retirement. The funds are invested by the Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) and kept in custody by Pension Fund Custodians (PFCs).
