Enugu sets aside N32bn to pay retirees' gratuities going back to 2000
A first N10bn tranche is due from this week, after a committee checked the records of 66,783 people to weed out false claims.
Enugu — Enugu State has approved about N32 billion to clear gratuities it owes retired public workers, with a first payment of N10 billion to be released from this week, Premium Times reports.
The secretary to the state government, Professor Chidiebere Onyia, announced the decision on Friday at Government House after a meeting of the State Executive Council. "The gratuity owed to every retiree across the board from 2000 will be paid," he said.
How the figure was reached
- The government suspended the old verification process in December 2025 and set up a committee, chaired by Onyia, to review records going back to 2000.
- The committee examined the records of 66,783 people to establish what is really owed and to guard against fraudulent claims.
- Retirees who dispute the outcome can ask the committee to review their case.
Onyia said the money is in the 2026 budget passed by the state assembly, that the debts were inherited by Governor Peter Mbah's administration, and that the aim is to clear them before the end of his first term. Later tranches will follow until the full amount is paid.
Local government retirees are owed more than N10 billion in gratuities on top of this; the governor has asked the state's Economic Council to review those debts so they can be paid soon too. The government says it has also started paying verified pension arrears.
Source: Premium Times, reporting by Chinagorom Ugwu, 17 October 2026.
