Ebonyi State Government has announced the completion of the second tranche of gratuity payments for retired civil servants, spanning from 1996 to 2023. The total amount disbursed in this phase exceeds N5 billion, marking a substantial investment in the welfare of the state’s former employees.
Governor Francis Nwifuru, demonstrating his administration’s commitment to addressing the needs of retirees, approved N1.6 billion for this latest payment round. According to a statement from Mr. Leo Oketa, the governor’s Special Assistant on New Media, the committee responsible for the exercise has successfully concluded the payment backlog as of Thursday.
The beneficiaries of this tranche include individuals from the spill-over list of retirees from the initial payment period (1996 to 2021) and those who retired in the years 2022 to 2023. The second phase, which commenced on April 30, 2024, and concluded on May 9, 2024, saw 256 retirees from the spill-over list receiving a total of N394.9 million. Additionally, 277 retirees from the 2022 to 2023 cohort were cleared, with a total gratuity amount of N1.030 billion paid out.
Overall, 533 retirees have been compensated in the second tranche, with a total expenditure of N1.4 billion. It is noteworthy that while 636 retirees were approved for this phase, 103 did not participate in the verification process, leaving their status pending.
The statement further recalled that on October 23, 2023, the first phase concluded with 1,558 retirees receiving payments totaling N3,608,536,469.03 from the N4 billion approved by the governor. To date, the Ebonyi State Government has settled the gratuity backlog for 2,091 retirees, amounting to N5,034,417,123.99.
