From Abdulrazaq Mungadi, Gombe
Gombe state governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya has warned voters against voting former governor of the state Dr. Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo. Stating voting for the former governor who is contesting for Gombe North Senatorial District could be dangerous.
He alleged that Dankwambo was reckless with issues relating to the well-being of the people especially retired civil servants while he was serving as the state governor.
Governor Yahaya stated this at the Flag-off ceremony for the payment of gratuity to retired state and local government employees on Monday in Gombe. He maintained that Dankwambo never cared about senior citizens who served the state, hence he left behind a backlog of over N21 billion in gratuities for both the State and LGA retirees.
He said, “State pensions obligation was over N14 billion while LGA was over N7 billion bringing a total of over N21bn in 2019. But Dankwambo paid himself off and left without paying you. He left and never visited Gombe not even for condolences and now he has come back seeking your vote and you are promising to vote for him”.
The governor explained that with the flag-off of the payment his APC led-government has paid state pensioners their 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017 entitlements. “So far we have paid N7.9 billion out of the N21 billion backlog we inherited from the last administration.
“The State retirees were last paid in 2013 while LGA retirees were last paid in 2011. This means that the last administration only paid 2 years gratuity to state workers while the LGA were only paid 6 months throughout the 8-year tenure of the last administration,” Governor Yahaya stated.
While assuring that his administration is a firm believer of integrity in governance, the governor said, “I believe this fulfills my promise that I will not owe a year of gratuity during my years as Governor. And Insha Allah, I feel fulfilled that I have kept my promise. And that this promise is being fulfilled to retirees who served diligently, loyally, and meritoriously is a great joy to my conscience”.
“When we came to power, we promised the ordinary people; the downtrodden that we will make life easier and better for them. We said we will provide quality education, and a good healthcare delivery system. We must not shy away from taking our respective responsibilities. The ordinary people are part of us. We must not leave anybody behind,” the governor who is seeking reelection stated.