The Niger State Pension Board has begun paying gratuities to state and local government retirees and death benefits to the next of kin of deceased beneficiaries, as part of efforts to reduce the backlog of benefits in the state.
The Director-General of the Board, Nasiru Namaska, flagged off the payment in Minna, where he commended Governor Mohammed Bago for releasing funds to settle outstanding gratuity liabilities owed to retirees.
Mr Namaska said that some beneficiaries had retired more than 10 years ago without receiving their gratuity.
He said the Bago administration inherited a huge backlog of liabilities and had been releasing funds in batches to address the outstanding obligations.
According to him, the government has so far released about ₦7 billion towards the settlement of gratuity liabilities.
