Uba Sani approves ₦3.6bn for payment of pensions, gratuities, death benefits

The Kaduna State Government has announced the approval of another batch of intervention targeted at retirees and families of deceased public servants.

In the latest intervention, Governor Uba Sani approved ₦3.659 billion for the payment of pensions, gratuities and death benefits to 1,339 beneficiaries under the Defined Benefit Scheme and Contributory Pension Scheme.The Commissioner for Information and Culture, Ahmed Maiyaki, said the current  payment brings the administration’s cumulative pension disbursement since May 2023 to ₦21.455 billion, benefiting 9,683 retirees and eligible families.

He said 210 local government retirees would receive ₦515 million under the Defined Benefit Scheme, while ₦3.144 billion would go to 1,129 beneficiaries under the Contributory Pension Scheme.

The government said the payments form part of broader public financial management reforms aimed at addressing outstanding pension liabilities and creating a more predictable system for meeting future obligations.

“Pension payment is not a favour; it is an obligation to our retirees and the families of deceased public servants,” Mr Maiyaki said.

The latest intervention adds to the administration’s stated focus on both human-capital development and social protection, with education reforms targeting children and young people while pension payments address obligations to former public servants and their families.

Meanwhile, the state government has declared that its education reforms and pension interventions are aimed at improving public service while strengthening support for students, teachers, retirees and other citizens.

The Deputy Governor of the State, Hadiza Balarabe, said the administration was working to expand access to quality education and equip young people with the knowledge, skills and character required to build productive lives.

She spoke on Tuesday at a community engagement organised by the Kaduna State Schools Quality Assurance Authority, where she described education as a shared responsibility involving government, teachers, school managers, parents, learners and communities.

Government strengthens school quality assurance

Mrs Balarabe said the administration’s reforms were changing the experience of children in classrooms by strengthening quality assurance across Kaduna’s 23 local government areas.

She said the government was providing Education Quality Assurance Officers with motorcycles and other operational support to enable them to reach more schools, particularly those in hard-to-reach communities.

The deputy governor also highlighted the introduction of hybrid Computer-Based Testing for the Junior Secondary Certificate Examination, QR-coded certificates and stronger examination monitoring as measures designed to protect the integrity of the state’s education system.

She said more than 800,000 students in junior and senior secondary schools had been supported in examinations since 2023.

The Director-General of the Kaduna State Schools Quality Assurance Authority, Abubakar Usman Zaria, said the authority had also moved from traditional inspection to continuous monitoring and improvement.

According to him, school monitoring is being shifted from paper-based reporting to digital, real-time evidence through the EduMonitor App, while more than 20 quality assurance tools have been standardised or automated.

He said BECE certificates, Certificates of Consent and annual private-school operating licences now carry QR codes to strengthen verification and guard against fraud and forgery.

The authority, he added, had deployed 50 motorcycles across the 23 local government areas, alongside monthly operational and monitoring allowances for field officers.