Zamfara Assembly Orders Immediate Payment Of Outstanding Contributory Pension Funds

In its resumed plenary tuesday 22nd of march 2022 after almost a month break owing to some international legislative engagements, the speaker Nasiru Magarya led Assembly decended heavily on the Zamfara state Head of Service Alhaji Kabiru Muhammad Gayari for his inability to constitute a commitee of critical stakeholders to pay both serving and retired zamfara state workers their due share from the repatriated N742,267 914 .05 recovered from different pension funds Administrators PFAs by a consulting firm Royal Rock consulting Limited late last year.

From a statement signed by the Director General, on Press Affairs and Public Relations, Zamfara state house of assembly, Mustapha Jafaru Kaura, a copy of which was made available to the Spectacles on Wednesday, 23rd March 2022.

While calling of the state Head of service to constitute the committee without further deley, the state lawmakers also directed the state commissioners of finace and local government Affairs Alhaji Sufiyanu Bashir Yuguda and Abubakar Sarkin Fawa Dambo respectively to effect the payment of all outstanding consultation fees owed by the the consulting firm Royal Rocks Consulting Limited for the company to complete its assignment logically.

The House reached these far reaching decision shortly after resumption of plenary and subsequent announcement made by the Speaker of the House Rt Hon Nasiru Mu’azu Magarya informing the plenary that the House standing committee on Lands ,Housing and Town planing Headed by Hon Shafi’u Dama Wanke will will today Wednesday embark on oversight functions in Gusau and Kaura Namoda towns to investigate alledged land Raketeering and illigal allocations of Shops in government owned and Reserved areas in such places and report back to planary.

Speaker Magarya then allowed the floor to Hon Nasiru Bello lawal Bungudu Deputy House leader and chairman House ad-hoc committee on investigationof pension Fund Administrators to lead the motion for the debate on failure of some key Zamfara state actors under the leadership of Alhaji Kabiru Muhammad Gayari Head of Service to consolidate on the gains so far recorded by a consulting firm Royal Rocks that recoverd over N 2.7 billion naira ment for the state workers starshed in more than 11 diffrent pension fund Administrators that were contracted to manage the state contributory pension scheme by the previous regimes in the state.

Out of the amount Hon Nasiru Bello stated that the company has succeded in direct payment of over N761,797,443.36 to individual bank accounts of employees of the state government numbering about 17, 780 of them got their due share while over N742,267,914.05 were successfully repatriated to the Reconconciliation account of the Head of service which are the outstanding pension funds ment to be paid 22,211 Retirement saving accounts (RSAs) holders that were varified to be the genuine owners .

Hon Lawal wondered why the deley by the Head of service in constituting the committee that will include crictical stakeholders from the state House of Assembly ,Nigerian Labour Congress NLC ministry of finace its local government counterparts as well as Nigerian Union of Pensioners NUP so that both serving and retired government workers will get their money with relative ease .

He then enjoyed his colleagues to as matter of urgency to see the compelling need of passing a resolution calling on the Head of service to constitute the committee and also ordered the state ministries of finace and local government Affairs to pay the outstanding fees owed the consulting firm Royal Rocks for a job well done .

Shortly after the moving the motion for debate ,speaker Magarya allowed members to contribute freely on the matter where almost all the House members threw their support on the executive to do the needful regarding the constituting of the committee to pay both serving and retired state workers their pension funds that are now in the custody of the Head of service .

After series of debate and deliberations on the matter Speaker Magarya in his ruling passed the House resolution calling on the zamfara state Head of service Alhaji Kabiru Muhammad Gayari to Immediately constitute the said committee for the overall benefits of our retired workers and prompt payment of the consulting company that successfully handled the job Royal Rocks .

Two bills also during yesterday’s plenary scaled second reading which include a bill for a law to provide for the state social protection and other matters connected therewith 2022 as well as a bill for law to provide for the state children protection and for other matters connected therewith were all referred to different committees for scrutiny and report back to plenary in different time schedules.