The Plateau State Head of Civil Service, Mrs. Rauta Dakok has disclosed that her Office has received a nod to settle arrears of pensions/gratuities and death benefits from 1986 to date saying the feat would be achieved with the monthly release of N300,000,000.00 only.
She made this known on Tuesday during the 2024 Ministerial press briefing where she noted that there is an upward review of the minimum monthly Pension for Pensioners from N5,188 to N20,000 with effect from 1St January, 2024.
According to her, “The Office of the Head of Civil Service obtained approval for the release of Three Hundred Million Naira (N300,000,000.00) monthly to settle arrears of pensions/gratuities and death benefits from 1986 to date…
“There is an upward review of Hazard Allowance for Medical Doctors, Nurses and Health Workers (CONMESS/CONHESS) including Non-clinicals Implemented. There is an upward review of Minimum monthly Pension for Pensioners from N5,188 to N20,000 with effect from 1St January, 2024…”
Also, the Commissioners for Information and Communication, Musa Ashoms, Secondary Education, Salisu Nyalun, Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Ephraim Usman, Women Affairs and Social Development, Caroline Dafur through the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Alex Anlong also spoke during the briefing.
In his remark, Ashoms explained that, “The 2024 Ministerial press briefing is organized to bolster his Ministry’s vision for an enlightened, educated and informed populace and it also corresponds with the Governor Caleb Mutfwang led administration’s idea of carrying citizens along in accordance with the first focal point of the Green Cap Policy Thrust, which is “Good Governance and Citizens Participation in Sustainable Development.”
His counterpart in the State Ministry of Secondary Education, Mr. Nyalun noted, the Ministry is out to reposition the education sector as the Ministry has among other things engaged in the “Intervention Projects under the Ministry
Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE), a State government project with support from the Federal Ministry of Education and the World Bank.
“There has been intervention in 170 schools with widespread renovation, complete disbursement of grants to 170 schools for renovation, WASH facilities, ICT equipment and school furniture. Among the projects are renovation of 682 classrooms, drilled 385 motorised boreholes, constructed 578 VIP toilets, a large number of furniture, etc
There are also Special grants of over N101 million which were distributed to each of 15 secondary schools…”
The State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Ephraim Usman added, “The present administration inherited N4.6. billions salaries and pension arrears from the previous administration at the LGAs level. So far, N1.7 billion Primary School teachers’ arrears have been cleared. N1.2 billion out of the over N1.6 billion arrears of Local government staff have been paid. Out of the over N1 billion Local Government pension arrears inherited, only about N300 million is still outstanding and efforts are being made to clear all the outstanding arrears of the LGAs staff and their pensioners within the next few months.”
