By Abubakar Rabilu Gombe
The Federal Government has begun a final verification exercise to settle outstanding allowances, pensions and other entitlements owed workers affected by a government programme initiated nearly two decades ago.
The Director-General of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR), Dasuki Arabi Ibrahim, disclosed this in Gombe while speaking to journalists during the exercise, which also involves receiving complaints from affected beneficiaries.
He said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had approved the exercise to ensure that workers who were disengage or denied their legitimate entitlements were identified and paid accordingly.
According to him, the programme, which commenced between 2007 and 2008, has remained unresolved for years, making the current exercise necessary to bring the matter to a final conclusion.
“This is the final verification exercise. We want to bring this matter to an end and ensure that everyone who worked and is entitled to payment receives his or her full entitlement,” he said.
Arabi said the BPSR was collaborating with the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, the Auditor-General for the Federation and anti-corruption agencies to authenticate records and ensure that only genuine beneficiaries received payment.
He disclosed that more than 99 per cent of cases instituted against the government over non-payment of the entitlements had been resolved.
He, however, said some beneficiaries had died, leaving their relatives and legal heirs to pursue claims on their behalf.
The DG also identified the loss of some original records as one of the challenges facing the exercise, noting that the comprehensive records still available were now in the custody of the BPSR.
He urged anyone who believed they had not been paid or had been underpaid to come forward with their complaints for verification.
The exercise, he said, is being conducted across the six geopolitical zones, with the team expected to proceed to Kano and Lafia after completing its assignments in other locations.
Meanwhile, some beneficiaries have appealed to the Federal Government to ensure that their outstanding claims are resolved.
Yusuf Adamu, Chairman of Retirees, Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi, said some workers who served for more than 20 years were receiving pensions that did not reflect their final salary grades.
He said some of them earned between ₦200,000 and ₦300,000 before retirement but their current pensions did not adequately reflect their years of service and applicable salary structures.
Adamu appealed to the government to review their cases and recalculate their pensions based on their years of service and the appropriate salary structure.
A next of kind whom stood for her late husband, Amina Ibrahim, also appealed for the payment of outstanding entitlements owed to widows whose husbands worked under the programme.
She said she was owed about ₦310,000, while some other beneficiaries were owed payments covering several months.
“We came under very difficult circumstances because we are simply trying to claim what is rightfully ours,” Ibrahim said.
