Abel Leonard, Lafia
Nasarawa state Government says it is determined to key into the Contributory Pension Scheme of the Federal Government to address pension issues in Nasarawa state.
The Deputy Governor of the state, Dr. Emmanuel Akabe stated this during an interface with officials of the Pension Commission, PENCOM in Abuja.
Dr. Akabe, Stating the rationale behind his visit, said “it was necessitated by the desire of the government to put to rest the issues affecting local government pensioners and retiree’s in the state most of whom have not received their gratuities for long”.
He further stressed that the state Assembly is working on amendments to the law on the Contributory Pension Scheme and sued for logistics and technical support from the PENCOM to ensure smooth take off and success of the scheme.
The Deputy Governor also expressed commitment towards the realization of the scheme in order to reduce the deficit, noting that Nasarawa state is to pay over forty billion naira backlog of arrears of pensions and gratuities
In a swift Respond, the Commissioner, Inspectorate, Barrister Clement Oyedele Akintola commended the Nasarawa state government for the commitment shown to implement the Contributory Pension Scheme which he described as a good step in Pension administration in the state, assuring of their readiness to offer technical assistance and ensuring the policy roadmap is followed to the latter.
Meanwhile, the state Deputy Governor also held a meeting with the Director General NAGIS in Karu to look at the issues of road network, water and healthcare took at the instance of His Exellency, Engr. Abdullahi Sule which is a follow up to the meeting the Governor had with the CBN Governor to look at how infrastructures in Karu can be improved upon and how the revenue base of the area can be enhanced for the benefit of the state.
He maintained that the Governor directed that he lead the team comprising the state commissioner for works, housing and transport, the DG of NAGIS, the MD of NASIA and the host Chairman to discuss areas where the state can intervene through grants from the CBN.
According to the Deputy Governor, “the meeting looked at possibility of opening up major roads in Karu that can impact on the living standard of the people and that are also commercially viable while also considering issues of healthcare, water and other amenities that can improve the living standard of residents of the area just as the NAGIS provided all the area mappings which contains the road network of the entire area where the proposed roads will link communities along the gateway to the FCT”.
