Kebbi governor says workers and pensioners have no payment arrears
Kebbi Governor Nasir Idris says the state has no outstanding salaries, pensions or gratuities for workers, teachers and pensioners. Speaking at a national teachers’ conference, he also cited recruitment and education projects, while the Nigeria Union of Teachers raised concerns over school funding and a proposed King’s College concession.
Kebbi Governor Nasir Idris said on Tuesday that his administration owed no salary arrears, pensions or gratuities to teachers, workers or pensioners in the state. Idris made the statement at the ongoing 59th National Conference of Delegates of the Nigeria Union of Teachers in Enugu. He said salaries, pensions, gratuities and death benefits were being paid up to date across state and local government institutions, including local government education authorities.
“We don’t owe salaries, we don’t owe pensions and we don’t owe gratuity,” the governor said, describing the policy as an example of leadership. He said the administration had absorbed more than 5,000 professional workers, including teachers, medical personnel and lawyers, into the permanent civil service to address casualisation. Idris also said about 6,144 civil servants, including teachers and health workers, had been recruited.
He said his government had increased teachers’ service period from 35 to 40 years and had also extended the service period for doctors, with changes planned for other sectors. The governor described primary education as central to social development and said Kebbi had increased spending on education. According to him, more than 2,000 schools had been constructed, renovated or furnished, with student and teacher furniture provided as part of efforts to keep children in school.
He said the state wanted to reduce the number of out-of-school children and insisted that teachers should not be treated as second-class workers. Idris also recalled that teachers had supported his political rise and said he had not disappointed workers or residents. Earlier, NUT president Audu Amba criticised the proposed concession of King’s College, Lagos, to its old boys’ association under a public-private partnership.
He called for the plan to be suspended and for wider consultation. Amba also urged stronger education funding and the implementation of approved welfare measures for teachers.
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