By Abiola Olawale
Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State has declared his firm determination to use every legal means necessary to reclaim an alleged unremitted N5.4 billion deducted monthly pension contributions during the immediate past administration of Senator Abdullahi Ganduje.
The Governor who made this vow during the flag-off of the payment of N5billuon gratuities to about 4,000 retirees said it is unfair that the past administration allegedly deducted workers’ monthly pension contributions without remitting the funds.
“The debacle we are in now is that all the money deducted from your monthly pension payments, amounting to over N5.4 billion, is that all the money was not remitted to the state treasury rather it was taken to personal accounts, but we are determined to get them back,” he assured.
Meanwhile, Yusuf also stated that his administration will clear the backlog of unpaid gratuities.
Yusuf said the inauguration of the second phase payment of N5 billion gratuity and death benefits to beneficiaries from the period of 2016 to 2019, won’t be the last.
The New Diplomat reports that Yusuf had sanctioned the payment of N6 million in the first phase. The N6 billion was to settle the retirement gratuity and death benefits of 5,333 pensioners, making a total of N11 billion.
He expressed dismay at the turn of events and accused the immediate past administration of being brutal to pensioners and retirees, which he said, had caused the deaths of many.
Yusuf said he has set up a committee made up of representatives from Pension Fund Trustees, the Sharia Court of Appeal, the office of the Head of Civil Service, offices of the Accountant General and Auditor General as well as the Ministry for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, to ensure the payment is transparently and effectively made to the real beneficiaries.
He continued: “Pensioners were not being paid their entitlements, the few ones that were lucky to be paid had to surrender a substantial percentage of their benefits before they could get paid the balance of their benefits.
“The system was so corrupted that even the monthly payment was marred with irregular and illegal deductions that no one has any guarantee of how much was their monthly pension –because the deductions were arbitrary and unpredictable.”
