Edo pays N2bn gratuity to 539 pensioners

Edo State government says it has so far paid N2 billion gratuity to 539 pensioners that retired in 2010 and 2011 from the state civil service.

BusinessDay reports that Gladys Idahor, the state head of service, made the disclosure in Benin City, the state capital.

Idahor said the payment of the pensioners’ gratuity was in fulfilment of the promise made by the state governor, Adams Oshiomhole to defray the pension liability to the retired workers.

She said those paid were those already screened and had done their biometrics, while those that were yet to get their payment were those that had errors in their account details, who didn’t turn up for screening and those whose records were incomplete.

According to her, 175 pensioners from the 2010 batch and 364 from the 2011 batch who were successfully verified had been paid.

“The verification exercise and payment of gratuities will be a continuous exercise and a date will be announced soon for pensioners who retired in 2012 to come for their verification and immediate payments,” she said.

While noting that that the next of kin of deceased staff are also yet to be paid, she disclosed that another date would soon be announced for the screening of those who didn’t turn up in the first exercise and the next of kin of deceased staff who had the requisite letters of administration.