Verification delaying payment of N24bn gratuities in Cross River -Commissioner

The Gov. Bassey Otu-led Government says that verification of retirees is delaying the payment of the N24bn gratuities inherited from the previous administration.

The Cross River Commissioner for information, Mr Erasmus Ekpang stated this in an interview with the newsmen in Calabar on Thursday.

It would be recalled that Otu, while marking his 100 days in office, promised to offset the N24 billion gratuity arrears owed retirees in the state by December 2023.

Ekpang said that the verification of retirees in the state was already ongoing, saying, “we are committed to fulfilling our promise as soon as the exercise is completed”

“We need to ascertain the exact number of retirees, we need to arrive at the right figure before implementation,” he said.

He said that the last time the state government paid gratuity to its retired civil servant was in 2014.

“The verification will guide us in planning for the payment. This is a key priority for our government, we shall attend to it as soon as practicable,” he said.

The commissioner said that the governor had reinvented governance in the state through his people-oriented projects across the state.

“As we speak, there are 52 ongoing road projects totalling about 150km across the state,” he said.

”Aside the ongoing infrastructural development projects in Calabar, the governor has embarked on urban renewal of Ikom and Ogoja Local Government Areas.

“This administration puts the people first in its policy formulation and implementation.

“Clearly, the government development trajectory is centred on the people, the intention is to enthrone a better quality of life for the people,” he said.