The Executive Secretary of the Kano State Pension Board, Habu Muhammad Fagge, has said that they have an inroads in the clearance of heavy Pension and Gratuity Debts of N48.6 Billion left over by the Dr. Umar Abdullahi Ganduje-led administration.
Habu Fagge said within the span of Governor Yusuf's two years in office, he has cleared over N21 billion in pension liabilities of N48.6 Billion inherited from Ganduje administration.
Speaking in an interview, Fagge described the state of the board at the time of the current administration's takeover as “deeply troubling,”; revealing that pensioners suffered irregular and arbitrary deductions under the previous government, sometimes losing half of their meager monthly entitlements.
“At one point, pensioners receiving N6,000 had N3,000 deducted without explanation. We couldn’t find any clear formula for the deductions,”; he said.
According to Fagge, the previous administration borrowed extensively from the pension fund, leading to significant financial distress.
He explained that part of the recovery began when Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf approved deductions from the source for pension remittances— restoring regular payments and enabling the board to reach 100% monthly pension disbursement.
“We inherited N48.6 billion in liabilities and also had to remit N75 billion that had been levied on local governments and some MDAs.
“Despite this, we’ve managed to settle N16 billion so far, with another N5 billion scheduled for disbursement soon,”; Fagge said.
He praised the governor for showing empathy, noting that “even though the debt was inherited, His Excellency took responsibility and ensured payments were made, purely out of concern for the pensioners.”;
