Borno State Governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum has inaugurated a panel to
verify councils’ pensioners and gratuity payments in 27 Local
Government Areas.
According to him, the three-month exercise, was an effort to institute
culture of ‘accountability and transparency’ in councils’ finances.
Inaugurating the 15-member committee on Tuesday at Government House;
Maiduguri; he disclosed that; “the local government system; is
empowered to address various challenges of development at the
grassroots level.
“This is to infuse procedural expediency and administrative diligence
in payments of pension and gratuities in the councils.”
He said that it has become strategic to ensure councils’ financial
obligations are in accordance to lay down regulatory guidelines and
financial standards.
He added that effective service delivery in councils, could fast track
the transformation rural centres for development at people’s door
steps.
Zulum however, noted that; “there has been gradual erosion of its
overall performance that led to general decline in council workers’
productivity.
He said that avoidable institutional inadequacies in council system;
also changed its trajectory and made it ineffective in discharging its
statutory obligations.
On panel’s verification tasks, he said: “To reverse this unhealthy
development and make councils’ system, an avenue for rural
transformation, with set up of two high-powered verification and
Biometric data-capture committees,” disclosing that the panels are on
Local Government Staff and Primary School Teachers.
According to him, the panel is to address these challenges and proffer
implementable measures to forestall pitfalls and other unsavory issues
associated system.
“This committee, is an integral part of our overall strategies to
reform the local government system to achieve objectives of
reinvigorate and resuscitate council system,” he said.
He said the committee has, six-point terms of reference, including
determining the actual number of genuine council pensioners.
He added that the committee, is to ascertain precise co-relation
between total number of pensioners and their cumulative pension
entitlements for payments.
Meanwhile, the committee is to pay gratuities of pensioners that were
hitherto entitled and cleared for payment on sustainable basis without
further delay; while the verification exercise is on-going.
The committee, who is led by Ibrahim Lawalam, a retired Auditor
General for Local Government Audit, is to identify challenges
associated with Local Government Pension payment system and how to
overcome them.
Continued; “You’re to examine the current method of payment of local
government pensioners and determine its vulnerability to abuse or
effectiveness in meeting extant procedural and administrative
requirements.
“Come up with pragmatic and implementable measures to overcome the challenges.
