• The governor said it is unacceptable for anybody to deduct workers’ monthly pension contributions without remitting the funds, adding that the payment of pension is not a privilege but a right.

Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State has vowed to recover pension funds siphoned by the government of his predecessor, Abdullahi Ganduje.

The governor said he would do everything legally to retrieve the over N5.4 billion deducted monthly pension contributions that were not remitted by Ganduje administration.

Yusuf made this known during the flag-off of the payment of N5 billion gratuities to 4000 retirees.

The governor said it is unacceptable for anybody to deduct workers’ monthly pension contributions without remitting the funds, adding that the payment of pension is not a privilege but a right.

To Kickstart the process of retrieving the funds, the governor asked the pensioners to write a petition to the State government seeking an investigation into the deduction of their monthly pension contributions.

He assured that his government would ensure that their money is recovered.

“The debacle we are in now is that all the money deducted from your monthly pension payments, amounting to over N5.4 billion, is that all the money was not remitted to the state treasury rather it was taken to a personal accounts, but we are determined to get them back,” he assured.

Yusuf added that his administration inherited N43 billion pension arrears from the Gabduje government.

Alhaji Abdulkadir Abdussalam, the state Accountant General, explained that Governor Yusuf is committed to paying pension backlog of ten years.

Chairman of Nigeria Pensioners Union, Kano State, Comrade Salisu Gwale, disclosed that before the 2023 election, “we asked how the new government will solve the problem of pension in Kano, with over N43 billion unpaid pensions”.

Gwale expressed sadness that the pensioners were shortchanged by Ganduje’s administration