Gov. Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State has approved N2 billion for the payment of gratuity arrears owed retired civil servants in the state.
The Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Public Affairs, Mr Peter Ahemba, disclosed this on Wednesday during a monthly news briefing in Lafia.
Ahemba said the approval was to help clear the arrears from 2013 to date, adding that payments had been made up to 2012.
“The governor is determined to ensure that whatever entitlement is due to our retirees, they do not suffer to get it. That is why he has decided to make this commitment again,” he said.
The governor’s aide also announced fresh interventions in mining revenue deployment, particularly in the mining communities.
He said the state had received N2.6 billion from a lithium processing company in Endo, Nasarawa Local Government Area (LGA).
Ahemba said that following the receipt of the money, the governor subsequently convened an expanded state Executive Council meeting with traditional rulers and stakeholders from host communities.
According to him, the governor directed that part of the funds be released for projects in Endo and surrounding communities.
“Recall that the state has agreed with the mining company, giving out licence to enable the company to mine, and then continue to pay tax to the state.
“This agreement is going to last from now to 2051,” Ahemba said.
He also said that the governor had directed stakeholders in the communities to work out key projects and inform the government.
He pointed out that the governor is not a dictator but wanted the people to make input into the kind of projects that would affect their life.
The governor explained that the licence was acquired in the name of Nasarawa Government, contrary to reports that it was acquired in the governor’s personal name.
On education, Ahemba said that 1,000 teachers had been recruited through the Nasarawa State Universal Basic Education Board from more than 10,000 applicants.
He said the successful applicants would immediately receive appointment letters for deployment to rural primary schools.
He said the government had also awarded contracts for three model schools, one in each senatorial district.
According to him, the government has mobilised contractors to the sites, with work expected to commence in Akwanga zone soon.
“To tackle out-of-school children syndrome, SUBEB has procured over 10,000 exercise books, uniforms and sandals for distribution to public school pupils.
“The board has also been directed to begin advocacy, after which a task force, in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice, will enforce compliance,” he said.
Ahemba said that mobile courts would prosecute parents who failed to send school-age children to school.
He further said that the government had concluded arrangements to commence rural and urban road projects across the state in the coming weeks.
The pilot projects, he said, would commence in selected LGAs, with the aim of ensuring that projects covered all the 13 LGAs before the end of the administration.
On the 2027 elections, Ahemba said that the government was ready to provide a level playing field but would not condone any acts of lawlessness by any politician, no matter how highly placed.
The Chairman, state Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Mr Juliana Ofoku, commended the governor for his support to journalists in the state.
Ofoku pledged the union’s commitment to projecting government activities and programmes through responsible reportage.