Alhaji Sani Muhammad-Gobirawa, the Zonal Vice Chairman, Nigerian Union of Pensioners (NUP), Northwest, on Thursday, called on retirees to adhere to stipulated guidelines, as Sokoto State Government starts gratuities payment.
Muhammad-Gobirawa made this call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Sokoto.
According to him, the resumption of payment of gratuity by Gov. Aminu Tambuwal this August will surely clear all the backlogs.
He said that Tambuwal had met accumulated gratuities of retirees in the state, which had resulted in some challenges.
The NUP chief urged retirees to conduct themselves in line with with established procedures for monthly payment of gratuity, noting that gratuity was last paid in 2016 in the state.
He said since the governor had ensured prompt payment of pension allowance to retired civil servants immediately after quitting the service, their sufferings had been alleviated.
Mohammed-Gbirawa said that previous payment procedures were marred by favouritism and some technical irregularities.
He added that the present administration ensured transparent dealings based on who retired first criteria.
Earlier, some Sokoto State retired civil servants said they were displeased with the way the state government was handling gratuity payments and their welfare.
They told NAN that many of them had died waiting for their gratuities to be paid.
Malam Aminu Idris, the Public Relations Officer, Ministry of Finance, confirmed to NAN that payment of gratuity would continue this August.
Idris said the decision was communicated at the end of an emergency meeting between the management of the two ministries led by the Commissioners of Finance, Mr Abdussamad Dasuki and Establishment and Pension Matters, Mr Sani Bunu-Yabo.