Alhaji Mahmud Sali, the Adamawa Commissioner of Finance, on Friday said 68 per cent of the first tranche of over N9 billion Paris debt refund was used to pay salaries and pension arrears of workers.
Sali gave the information to newsmen on Friday while responding to complaints by pensioners in the state that they were yet to benefit from the Paris Club debt refund.
Sali said that the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the states and Federal Government on the release of the fund was that 50 per cent of the money would go for salaries and pension arrears, while the remaining would go for projects.
“We are to expend 50 per cent on arrears, but we ended up spending 68 per cent on that to show the commitment of the governor to addressing the plight of workers and pensioners”.
The commissioner said that one billion naira was allocated for arrears of pension, adding that the money was intact and would soon be paid at the conclusion of necessary modalities.
Sali, who is also the Chairman of Pension Reform Committee in the state, said his committee would ensure enrollment of local government pensioners on e-payment platform so that they would be collecting their pension as at when due like their counterparts in the state.
The State Head of Service, Mr Musa Kaibo, blamed the problem of pensioners on past administration for not keying into the contributory pension scheme started in 2014.
He urged pensioners to exercise patience, adding that the current administration was committed to addressing their problem within its limited resources.
The Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mallam Ahmad Sajoh, also re-iterated the commitment of government to the welfare of pensioners, adding that government would further consider pensioners in the second tranche of Paris Club refund. (NAN) MK/YMU/TA
