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From Abdulraza Mungadi, Gombe
Gombe State Government has released N10.32 billion for the payment of gratuities to 6,665 retired state and local government workers, with Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya announcing the settlement of all state government gratuity obligations up to December 2025.
Yahaya, who flagged off the latest round of payments in Gombe yesterday, said N6.24 billion was approved for 2,354 state retirees whose gratuities fell due in 2024 and 2025, while N4.08 billion was released to the 11 local government councils to settle outstanding entitlements of 4,311 retirees.
He said gratuities accruing to state retirees from January 2026 would be paid early in 2027.
The governor described the beneficiaries as workers who devoted their productive years to the development of the state, adding that the disbursement marked another major step towards addressing outstanding liabilities.
According to him, the administration inherited a N21 billion gratuity backlog when it assumed office in 2019, covering local government retirees from 2012 to 2019 and state retirees from 2014 to 2019.
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Yahaya said his administration had paid N33.283 billion in gratuities before the latest disbursement, putting the cumulative expenditure since 2019 at N44.134 billion.
He also announced the approval of N299 million in gratuities for former employees of the dissolved Gombe Investment and Property Development Company, following the establishment of the Gombe State Investment Promotion Agency.
The governor said he had approved the settlement of outstanding gratuities owed to former local government chairmen and councillors from the previous administration to date.
To prevent further accumulation of liabilities, Yahaya said the government was considering a sustainable funding mechanism, including a possible contributory pension arrangement or deductions from the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
He linked the clearance of inherited gratuity arrears to the government’s capacity to recruit workers sustainably, explaining that the financial burden of unpaid retirees’ entitlements had previously constrained large-scale recruitment.
