Geri-Gedi Era: Governor AbdulRazaq pays 3bn to clear all salary arrears, cash-backs teachers’ promotion

Kwara State Government has cleared all the salary arrears for SUBEB teachers and local government workers as inherited from the administration of former Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed.

Figures from the last allocation meeting of the local government showed that the government committed N1,297,389,165.83 to clear the balance of the arrears owed to the SUBEB teachers.

Another N1,622,673,992.12 was apportioned to clear the balance of the arrears for the local government workers in the past administration, according to the data from the allocation meeting.

This is contained in a statement by Babatunde Toyin Abdulrasheed, Press Secretary, Ministry of Finance, on Thursday, February 29, 2024.

Part of the statement reads, “Between January 2020 and January 2024, the administration has spent at least N5.5bn to offset the arrears of salary for SUBEB teachers, local government workers and local government pensioners alone — apart from meeting its multi-billion naira monthly obligations to these categories of workers and many others since it was elected in 2019.

“The government meanwhile has approved cash-backing for the implementation of 2022 promotion for teaching and non-teaching staff of the SUBEB, a decision that is part of the government’s efforts to boost the purchasing powers of workers at this time.”

He added that Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has constantly said he would clear all the salary and promotion arrears inherited from his predecessor, a campaign promise he has fulfilled in phases since he assumed office in 2019.

“The final settlement of the SUBEB and Local Government salary arrears brings to a close the consistent agitation for the payment of the money, which dated back to 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019,” he said.

The former Governor AbdulFatah Ahmed, who is currently being probed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over N10 bn that went missing from the Kwara State’s coffer, owed the state’s SUBEB teachers and local government workers salaries and halted their promotions.

But Governor AbdulRazaq, in his campaign promises while seeking the governorship seat, said he would clear all the salary and promotion arrears he inherited from the PDP-led government.