The Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, has delivered a gratuity cheque to an ailing retired schoolteacher at his residence in Ningi Local Government Area of the state. The cheque was handed over to the senior citizens together with a commendation letter personally signed by the Governor.

The 75 years old retired local government teacher, Haruna Sabo was seen bedridden in his Ganji area of Ningi, Ningi local government. A member of the Committee on Payment of Gratuity, Mr. Muhammed Kabir Zizwe who delivered the Governor’s commendation letter said that the Governor appreciated the contributions of the former teacher to the state’s education sector.

Recall that Bala Mohammed had last month released over N11bn for the payment of gratuities from 2012 to 2015 to both the state and local governments retirees.

Zizwe said that the Governor directed the Committee to present the cheques to retirees who are weak and sick to travel to the state capital. Speaking on Friday. He said that the retired teacher was among beneficiaries who could not attend the flag-off ceremony for the distribution of gratuity cheques to retired civil servants in Bauchi.

Zizwe said the committee had cleared outstanding gratuity payments for retirees from 2012 and 2013.
He explained that although the cheques had been made available to beneficiaries at the state capital, the committee identified some retirees who were too ill to travel and recommended delivering their cheques directly to their homes.

The governor had earlier assured retirees that the government would continue to pay the outstanding gratuities in tranches, reaffirming his administration’s commitment to settling the liabilities, which run into billions of naira.

It was gathered that the ailing retired teacher is married to three wives and 27 children.

While speaking, Haruna appreciated the Governor for counting him worthy of commendation having served for 35 years. He prayed for the Governor’s successful ending and more wisdom to advance the life of the people of the state.

Also, the Chairman of Nigeria Union of Pensioners, Ningi, Abdullahi Abdulkareem lauded the administration of Mohammed, saying that the lump sum of the backlog was inherited from past administrations. He urged the government to put more efforts in offsetting the rest of outstanding gratuities for pensioners to have a joyous retirement.