The Benue State Government has announced plans to pay an additional five months of salary arrears owed to civil servants, stating that the funds have already been provided for in the 2025 budget.
This was revealed by the Commissioner for Finance, Mr Michael Oglegba, during an interview with correspondents in Makurdi on Wednesday.
Oglegba disclosed that five months’ worth of arrears had already been paid in 2024, and the new phase of payments would depend on the availability of funds. He emphasised that the process would continue until all outstanding arrears were settled.
“When this administration took over, we inherited a backlog of 48 months for pensioners and civil servants,” he said.
He explained that the arrears were not uniform, as some workers were owed seven months while others were owed as many as 12. He added that full arrears had already been cleared for Benue State University (BSU) and some ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs), while others were still being addressed.
“Sometimes we select ministries and pay; other times, we select MDAs within a ministry and pay,” he noted, adding that the process is ongoing.
Oglegba pointed out that the College of Education is currently owed about seven months of salaries and would be included in the upcoming payments. However, he described pension obligations as a more complex challenge.
“We found that pensioners had not been captured in government records for three years. After capturing them, the pension arrears figure rose from ₦400 million to ₦1 billion,” he said.
He noted that the savings realised from the civil servant revalidation exercise were used to address some of the pension arrears and reduce the state’s monthly wage burden.
Oglegba clarified that salary payments fall into multiple categories, including core civil servants, ministries and agencies, as well as monthly subventions to BSU and the Benue State University Teaching Hospital (BSUTH), which are not officially classified as civil servants.
He also highlighted the recent salary upgrades in the state, stating:
“Government implemented the minimum wage for level seven to 17, increasing salaries from ₦18,000 to ₦75,000. For levels one to six, salaries rose from ₦30,000 to ₦75,000—this is a major leap.”
The commissioner further said another round of staff revalidation was being prepared, aimed at identifying and removing ghost workers from the payroll.
(NAN)