The Federal Government has commenced a final verification exercise to settle outstanding allowances and entitlements owed workers disengaged under a government programme initiated nearly two decades ago.
The Director-General of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR), Dasuki Arabi Ibrahim, disclosed this in Gombe while speaking to journalists during the verification and complaints hearing for affected beneficiaries.
He said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had approved the exercise to identify beneficiaries who were underpaid or denied their legitimate entitlements and ensure they received what was due to them.
According to him, the programme began in 2007/2008 but had dragged on for almost 20 years.
‘This is the final verification exercise. We want to bring this matter to an end and ensure that everyone who worked and is entitled to payment receives his or her full entitlement,’ he said.
Arabi said the BPSR was working with the Accountant-General of the Federation, Auditor-General for the Federation and anti-corruption agencies to authenticate records and prevent payments to ineligible claimants.
He disclosed that more than 99 per cent of cases filed against the government over non-payment of the entitlements had been resolved.
He, however, said some beneficiaries had died, leaving their relatives or legal heirs to establish their claims, while the loss of some original records had also complicated the process.
He urged anyone who believed they had been underpaid or had not received their entitlements to submit their complaints for verification.
The exercise, he said, was being conducted across the six geopolitical zones, with the team expected to proceed to Kano and Lafia after Gombe.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi retirees, Yusuf Adamu, appealed to the government to review the pensions of workers whose benefits, he said, did not reflect their years of service and final salary grades.
Adamu said some retirees served for 22 years and earned between N200,000 and N300,000 before retirement, but their current pensions did not adequately reflect their earnings.
Another beneficiary, Amina Ibrahim, said she was owed about N310,000 in outstanding payments and appealed to the authorities to investigate their cases and ensure genuine beneficiaries received their entitlements.