Governor Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru of Ebonyi State has paid the gratuities of all retired Civil Servants of Ebonyi State, from 2022 to 2023 and also mop-up (those who were not paid) for the initial payment exercise (1996 to 2021) has reached the penultimate stage, today.

Our correspondent gathered that this is the first time in the history of Ebonyi State that gratuities of all retired civil servants in the state are being paid by a sitting Governor.

In a statement made available to our correspondent by the Special Assistant to the Governor on New Media, Mr Leo Oketa stated that as at close of work today, May 8, 2024, a total number of 489 retirees have been paid for this second trench. The total sum of gratuity paid from April 30, 2024 till today is N1,361,411,669.50kobo.

According to him, "the payment will be concluded tomorrow."

"His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru is not reneging on his promise of ensuring that gratuities of retirees are paid on the actual date of retirement. This will then set the pension of the retiree in motion."

"He has availed the committee all needed arsenals to prosecute these payments accordingly. In no distant time, the committee will catch up with retirees of 2024 and it will flow effortlessly."

"It can only be possible when you have a leader who SERVES in every sense of the word."

Commendable, but how about those who have died?

So what were the past governors esp Umahi doing that he could not pay such the backlog that existed since 1996?