Atleast 1,351 pensioners in Niger State are now to smile as the state Governor, Abubakar Sani Bello, has released N2.6 billion for the payment of their pension with immediate effect.
However, only pensioners that left the service under the old pension scheme are to receive their entitlements for now.
The Director General of the Niger State Pensions Board, Alhaji Usman Tinau Muhammad, disclosed this to journalists in Minna on Friday.
Muhammad said 1,096 local government retirees and 255 pensioners in the civil service were to benefit from the payment.
Muhammad said those to be paid would have to provide among others their letters of first appointment and disengagement from the service, while relations of deceased workers must produce death certificates to claim their entitlements.
The Director General warned that the board would not tolerate any “under the table dealings” during the payment as the full weight of the law would be brought to bear on anyone, including staff of the board, that tries to circumvent the process.
He said the board was “critically looking into the cases of pensioners that fall under the new Contributory Pension Scheme with a view to ensuring they received their benefits as soon as possible”, adding: “We are trying to see how we can help the civil servants retirees, why are they not paid after money has been deducted from their salaries.”
The Director General believes the payment of the entitlements of pensioners “will not only reflate the economy but will make those affected happy”
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