The Governor of Borno State in Northeast Nigeria, Babagana Umara Zulum, issued a cheque for the sum of two billion naira (N2b) to the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) in the State to be disbursed as interest-free loans to eligible workers with a repayment period of 24 months.
This presentation followed a meeting between Governor Zulum and officials from the NLC, led by Comrade Yusuf Inuwa, who serves as the labour chairman in Borno State.
Furthermore, Zulum emphasized the importance of timely payment of salaries and pensions to state workers and retirees.
He stated that the government is committed to ensuring that all outstanding salaries and pensions are paid promptly. In addition, he announced plans to increase funding for infrastructure development in the state, particularly in rural areas.
Zulum expressed his belief that these measures will help to improve the standard of living for all residents of the state, and he called on all stakeholders to work together towards this goal.
The gratuities are lump sums paid to workers who retired from service, even as they become entitled to monthly pensions.
For many years, retired workers in Borno State have been owed gratuities for which Governor Zulum has released about N20 billion to drastically reduce the backlog even though more workers retire every year, making more of them to be owed gratuities.
To mitigate the impact of subsidy removal, Zulum has allocated 30 buses to facilitate transportation for workers in the state. Following his meeting with the NLC, he announced that these buses would be managed by the Borno Express Transport Corporation and stationed at pick-up points along major routes. They will transport workers from their various starting points to the Musa Usman secretariat in the morning and return them in the evening.
Furthermore, Governor Zulum has instructed the Ministry of Finance to disburse promotional benefits owed to workers whose names were previously omitted during earlier payments, thus clearing any existing backlog.
The employees who have yet to receive their promotional benefits for the years 2016, 2017, and 2018 were excluded from payments authorized by Governor Zulum in 2019. It is imperative that all workers owed promotional benefits for the years 2019 and 2020 be compensated promptly while those who are entitled to benefits from the years 2021 onwards shall be remunerated based on their performance in a recent promotional examination in which they participated.
