The governor of Zamfara State, Dauda Lawal, shared that his government found N13 billion in unpaid pensions and gratuity from past administrations.
Lawal talked about this in an interview with TVC on Wednesday in Abuja.
He said the unpaid pensions go back to 2011, which is 13 years before his time as governor.
But, he also mentioned that his team has already paid off around N9 billion of that debt. The rest will be paid soon.
Lawal explained that the state has many other unpaid debts from old governments. These include money owed for education, electricity, and water. His government is working hard to fix these problems.
“We took over with very little money and had to deal with 4 months of unpaid salaries. We have managed to pay these. We also paid N1.3 billion to NECO, N1.4 billion to WAEC, and N1.4 billion to Kedco. A lot of government buildings didn’t even have electricity.
“Since 2011, Zamfara has not paid N13.4 billion in pensions and gratuities. We have already paid around N9 billion. The rest will be paid in the next few months,” Lawal said.
Increase in Minimum Wage
Lawal also shared that the state raised its minimum wage to N30,000 after he became governor. Before that, workers earned just N7,000 per month.
He was proud to say that the state’s own revenue grew from N90 million to N1.2 billion.
With him in charge, the state has seen more jobs and economic activities, he added.
“Before I became governor, Zamfara State made less than N90 million in revenue. Now, we make at least N1.2 billion, and it’s growing every month.
“When I started, the minimum wage was just N7,000 per month. We quickly increased it to N30,000. We are hiring more people now and many businesses are opening,” Lawal said.
Important Information
Paying pensions and gratuities by local governments has been a big issue in Nigeria. Many states struggle to pay pensions on time.
- In 2004, Nigeria created a successful reform called the Pension Reform Act (PRA 2004).
- Even with this reform, paying pensions is still a challenge in the country.
- The reform introduced the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), which many Nigerians think is a great success. Under CPS, employers in both public and private sectors must contribute to their employees’ retirement funds.
- Employees also contribute a part of their salary, similar to saving for retirement. The funds are managed by Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) and held by Pension Fund Custodians (PFCs).