The Gombe state government has expended N17.23 billion in the payment of gratuity to retirees in the last seven years.

The state deputy governor, Manassah Jatau, said this Monday in Gombe while briefing journalists after the state’s Executive Council meeting chaired by Gov. Inuwa Yahaya.

Jatau said the Yahaya-led administration had been paying the five-year backlog of gratuity inherited by the administration, adding that the N17.23 billion covered the period between 2014 and 2020.

He said that the government spent N8.57 billion in payment of gratuity to 5, 658 state’s retirees; while N4.9 billion disbursed to 6,027 retirees in the local government service between 2014 and 2018.

“Before now, payment of retirement benefits was a herculean task as this administration met backlogs of unpaid gratuities between 2014 and 2018.

“The state government under Yahaya has prioritised the payment of gratuities to ensure that retirees get their benefits.

“It takes a man with a large heart to pay the debt he was not part of.

“So far, this government has paid N17.235 billion as gratuities to retirees in the state,” he said.

Jatau said that the state government had also approved the sum of N4.9 billion for payment of gratuities for 2, 204 retired state government workers between 2019 and 2020.

He decried the backlogs of gratuities left unpaid before Yahaya’s administration, adding that the money spent on paying such backlogs would have been enough to pay retirement benefits from 2019 to date.

Also speaking, Commissioner of Works, Housing and Transport, Usman Kallamu, said that the state Executive Council had approved N31.5 billion for underpass construction and 18.1 kilometres of road networks around the three-arm zone projects being constructed.

Kallamu said the road networks were to ease traffic within the three-arm zone when completed, adding that the road project was expected to be completed within 20 months.