The Katsina State Government on Tuesday released the sum of N811 million for the payment of gratuities to 406 pensioners.
The state Commissioner for Finance, Alhaji Muntari Kado, who made this known at a press briefing in Katsina, said 1,229 pensioners, who retired from service, were screened by the pension verification committee.
The commissioner explained that the payment of the pensioners would be in phases in order to avoid congestion in the banks selected for the payment.
He said that the payment would be through Access Bank which has only four branches in the state.
‘’A person has the right to transfer his money to any bank of his choice after payment,’’ Kado said.
The commissioner said that the verification committee had also screened no fewer than 3,000 pensioners formerly in the local government service.
He urged pensioners to bear with the situation while the government was trying to settle their entitlements.
Kado said that the remaining 823 pensioners would be paid their entitlements within a short time as promised by the governor.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the state government secured N11 billion loan from the CBN bail out fund to pay the outstanding gratuities owed pensioners.
