Bauchi State governor, Bala Mohammed has assured pensioners in the State that he will pay their unpaid gratuity during his second term in office.
Governor Mohammed who spook shortly after taking oath of office for his second term in office in Bauchi on Monday, said that even though his administration has been up-to-date with paying pensions and gratuities, the State still owes pensioners and their next-of-kins N23 billion arrears.
He regretted that despite settling over N4 billion without accumulating new ones, the State still has about N23 billion outstanding pension and gratuity payment, inherited from previous administrations in the state.
Governor Mohammed expressed optimism that the enactment of the State Contributory Pension Scheme by his Administration will ensure that the intractable problem of payment of gratuities does not outlive this administration.
“It is with deep sense of satisfaction that I want to categorically say that since the inception of this administration we have been paying monthly salaries and pensions without default.
“I want to reiterate my earlier assurance that as a civil servant, I will spare no effort to ensure that our labour has integrity, and the welfare of our civil servants will remain top priority at all times.
“On concerns over gratuities, I wish to reassure the workers that the Government will fast-track ongoing effort to create the required synergy between the PENCOM and the recently established Bauchi State Contributory Pension Scheme to defray the backlog and guarantee regular payment of gratuities.
“I wish to reiterate my earlier assurance that it is a moral obligation on the part of the Government to guarantee the payment pensions and gratuities.
“To that extent, no effort, I repeat, no effort will be spared to guarantee the economic rights of senior citizens and the welfare of their families,” he said.
In his effort to address the problem of under-staffing in various Ministries and Departments in the State, Governor lifted a 12 year old embargo on employment placed by a former governor of the state, Isa Yuguda.
He said: “It goes without saying that consolidating on our ambitious developmental agenda will demand of civil servants higher levels of initiatives, commitment and personal sacrifice. What this means is that in addition to sustaining the regular payment of salaries, pensions and wages as at when due, Government will expose a critical mass of civil servants to targeted human capital development programmes in line with global best practices.
“More fundamentally, though we have done some strategic hiring to fill yawning vacancies in some strategic sectors recently, the Government recognizes the huge burden placed on the existing work force. In order to ensure that the MDAs are appropriately and adequately staffed, and that employment opportunities are opened for qualified youth of the state and ultimately recalibrating the civil service for efficient service delivery and sustainable growth, I am delighted to announce that the embargo on employment is hereby lifted.”
He lamented that paucity of funds compelled his Administration to go for short term commercial loans to fund its development plans particularly capital projects such as roads, water and other social infrastructure.
The governor, however noted that he will not allow the modest successes that his administration has recorded blind him into the pitfalls of unguarded borrowing.
He noted further that, for the next four years, his administration will source for fund by adopting aggressive and effective strategies for increasing internally generated revenue (IGR).
“We will key into the Federal Government’s lending plan which will enable the state to access huge funds at single digit interest rate. We might float a state bond that guarantees access to reasonable funds with long term gestation and minimal monthly repayments.
“We may also explore the possibility of attracting huge support from donor and multilateral agencies and other development partners without mortgaging the future of the state,” he further stated.
On agriculture, he assured that his administration will embark on allocation of land to young farmers across the three senatorial zones of the state, establish extension services to interact with and provide technical support to farmers and intensify the construction of buffer stock facilities in various parts of the state and encourage the formation of co-operatives to give farmers better bargaining power.
The governor in his inauguration speech also promised judicial autonomy, succour for women, children and vulnerable groups, and digitization of state-owned radio and TV stations among others.