By Uzair Adam
Borno State Governor, Babagana Umara Zulum, has approved the payment of N5.81 billion in outstanding gratuities to retired civil servants and the families of deceased workers in the state.
The governor presented the cheques on Friday at the Council Chamber of the Government House in Maiduguri, in the presence of leaders of organised labour and the Nigerian Union of Pensioners.
The payment forms part of the state government’s ongoing efforts to improve the welfare of retirees and the families of deceased civil servants.
The N5.81 billion package comprises two cheques. The first, valued at N2.99 billion, will clear all outstanding gratuities owed to the families of deceased civil servants.
The second cheque, amounting to N2.82 billion, will settle gratuities for retirees up to December 2022, including outstanding entitlements owed to former staff of the Borno State Housing Corporation from 2013 to date.
Speaking during the presentation, Zulum said the payment fulfilled a key campaign promise of his administration.
“We are presenting about N5.81 billion to deceased and retired civil servants. We have many civil servants who lost their lives while in service, and their families have continued to face economic challenges.
“We are therefore providing about N3 billion to support these families so they can live in peace and dignity,” he said.
The governor added that retired civil servants up to 2022 would now receive their gratuities in full, noting that the government would subsequently begin processing payments for those who retired in 2023.
Zulum highlighted previous interventions by his administration aimed at addressing pension and gratuity liabilities.
According to him, the state government releases N200 million monthly for gratuity payments.
He also recalled that N8 billion was released in 2025 to settle pensioners’ entitlements and teachers’ gratuities, while N12 billion was disbursed in 2020 to pay about 5,000 retired state and local government workers.
The Commissioner for Finance, Lawan Umar Dalorima, described the payment as another demonstration of the governor’s commitment to workers’ welfare.
Dalorima said the administration remained determined to honour those who devoted their years of service to the development of Borno State.
“This is another demonstration of your compassionate and people-centred leadership, where the welfare of citizens remains a top priority despite competing demands,” he said.
Also speaking, the Vice Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Mamman Bukar, commended the governor for clearing the outstanding gratuities, describing the intervention as timely.
He said the payment would ease the hardship experienced by pensioners and the families of deceased workers while reinforcing confidence in the government’s commitment to workers’ welfare.
Zulum also assured local government employees that his administration was working to address challenges affecting their welfare.
The governor said the state government would soon engage representatives of local government workers to identify practical solutions, noting that the large workforce on local government payrolls had limited the implementation of broader welfare reforms.
He urged the workers to remain patient, assuring them that discussions with their union leadership would commence soon to improve their working conditions and welfare.