The Bayelsa State Government established eight committees on Monday to oversee the payment of gratuities, pensions, and death benefits owed to retired employees of the state’s eight local government councils.
The Punch reported that the state deputy governor, Lawrence Ehwrudjakpo, who inaugurated the committees in his office in Government House, Yenagoa, set July 2024 as the deadline for clearing the arrears owing to council pensioners.
The committees, each assigned to one of the eight local government regions, will be chaired by representatives from the Ministry of Local Government, with representatives from the National Union of Pensioners serving as secretaries.
In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Mr Doubara Atasi, Ehwrudjakpo announced that N1.8 billion, or 30% of the total debt, was already available for payment as the first tranche.
He charged the committees with being thorough in their duties, stating that they were formed to ensure that payments were made on time.
While assuring council workers of the current administration’s continuous dedication to their welfare, Ehwrudjakpo urged them to vote in order for the government to continue its good deeds.
He commended the temporary chairman of the local government councils for their cooperation, stressing that the committees’ principal task was to ensure that payments were made to the correct people at all centers.
The deputy governor said: “We have devised a solution to address the backlog of approximately N6 billion in local government gratuities, pensions, and death benefits and we’re removing 30% of it right now.
“That is why we formed this committee to oversee the payment. The checks are ready, but we want to make sure that the people who receive them are the right individuals.
“As a result, we anticipate that local government pensioners and employees will relish this opportunity to provide the Prosperity Administration with the opportunity to clear out this liability because to whom much is given, much is required.”
The state chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Barnabas Simon, and his NUP counterpart, Shell Alafa, both praised the government for breaking the jinx on the payment of gratuities to retired local government officials in different reactions.
According to them, Bayelsa is one of the few states that has good government-labor ties, and the current step will endear the current administration to all right-thinking public workers in the state.
