Retired staff of the Sokoto State Primary School Education Board have called on Governor Ahmed Aliyu to urgently order the payment of their long-overdue pensions and gratuities.
They said the prolonged delay has plunged them and their families into severe economic hardship, with many battling serious health issues as a result.
According to them, several colleagues and relatives have died without receiving their benefits, while others remain in desperate need of medical care.
“Our situation is critical. Some of us have been retired for five to 10 years without receiving a single kobo in pension or gratuity.
“We appeal to the governor to intervene and instruct the Pension Board to clear our entitlements,” one retiree pleaded.
A source at the Sokoto State Local Government Staff Pension Board and the Primary School Staff Pension Board revealed that partial payments were made in 2002 and 2017, and a memo has since been sent to the governor for approval to resume the process.
It was also gathered that many civil servants across the state’s 23 local government areas are currently tendering retirement letters, with some forced to do so due to ill health, old age, or work-related conditions.
The retirees alleged manipulation in the payment process, claiming it has denied them their rightful benefits and deepened their economic and health struggles.
“We are only demanding what we have worked for. This injustice is tearing families apart and inflicting needless suffering,” another retiree lamented.
(Triumph Newspaper)
