The ongoing payment of outstanding gratuities to retired civil servants in Enugu State is expected to provide financial relief to thousands of households, helping beneficiaries meet family responsibilities, settle debts and address needs that had remained unattended for years.
The Accountant-General of Enugu State, Mr. Tony Okenwa, disclosed this while explaining the impact of Governor Peter Mbah’s intervention to clear the state’s accumulated gratuity liabilities.
Okenwa said the payment exercise was not limited to retirees themselves, as the financial benefits would also reach their children, dependants and other members of their households.
“The impact of this intervention goes beyond the individual retirees. It affects entire families,” he said.
He explained that many beneficiaries had been unable to meet important financial responsibilities because their gratuities remained unpaid for years after leaving service.
“Some beneficiaries will be able to return their children to school, provide shelter for their families, settle outstanding obligations and attend to long-neglected needs,” the Accountant-General said.
According to him, the payment of long-withheld retirement benefits would give families the opportunity to address pressing needs that had been postponed because of financial difficulties.
Okenwa said the state inherited about ₦32 billion in unpaid gratuity obligations from previous administrations, covering the period between 2010 and 2023.
The total liability, he added, had risen to approximately ₦48 billion after including obligations accumulated from June 2023 under the current administration.
He disclosed that Governor Mbah approved an initial ₦10 billion to address the outstanding obligations, with ₦8 billion allocated to legacy debts and ₦1 billion each earmarked for two other categories of gratuities.
The state initially deployed ₦5 billion for payments, reaching approximately 2,000 beneficiaries across the categories covered by the exercise.
Okenwa said the first batch of 1,030 retirees received ₦1.9197 billion, while another 783 beneficiaries received approximately ₦1.199 billion in the second batch.
In a separate category, 80 retirees whose entitlements fell within the June and July 2025 period received more than ₦482 million.
He said another batch of over 400 beneficiaries had been prepared for payment, subject to final verification.
The Accountant-General explained that the intervention was being implemented through a committee chaired by the Secretary to the State Government, Professor Chidiebere Onyia, with the Commissioner for Finance serving as secretary and the Accountant-General and Principal Secretary to the Government, Ken Chukwuegbo, as members.
He said the committee was responsible for coordinating payments and ensuring that the different categories of beneficiaries were accommodated.
Okenwa also disclosed that the government was updating and filtering the records of legacy beneficiaries to remove those who had already received payments through previous interventions.
He said some retirees had previously approached Governor Mbah with pressing needs, including illness, children’s education and other urgent family challenges, leading to the approval of payments outside the general exercise.
The Accountant-General said the filtering process was necessary to establish the actual outstanding liability and prevent duplicate payments.
He added that some beneficiaries had experienced delays because of dormant bank accounts or incorrect account details, while families claiming benefits under the relate pensions category were required to obtain letters of administration from the Ministry of Justice.
Okenwa said the administration was also working to resolve outstanding claims dating back to the 1990s and early 2000s, including gratuities that remained unpaid after beneficiaries failed to collect or redeem old cheques.
He disclosed that approximately 12,717 beneficiaries remained on the legacy gratuity list, adding that the next deployment of ₦5 billion was expected to reach more retirees.
According to him, Governor Mbah had indicated that payments would continue monthly until the outstanding obligations were settled.
“As for when the entire backlog will be cleared, by the grace of God, it will be completed,” Okenwa said.
He said the government would reconcile its records at the end of the exercise to determine whether every verified beneficiary had been paid.
“Our approach is to ensure that nobody is left behind,” the Accountant-General said.
“We will continue the process until the outstanding obligations are fully addressed.”
