The Governor of Benue State, Rev Fr. Hyacinth Alia, on Friday, vowed to pay gratuities to state employees a week after their retirement.

Governor Alia who made this pledge while speaking in an interview in Makurdi, Benue State capital, added that pensions will start to run three months after retirement.

In a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Tersoo Kula, Alia said after paying salaries regularly, he will also start paying the backlog of additional benefits that the state’s employees and retirees are due.

According to him, production wouldn’t increase unless employees were completely driven. He emphasised that in order to transform Benue, the Alia administration would begin with the civil service, which had the ability to obstruct the policies and initiatives of the government.

He added that the governor has linked the Government House in Makurdi and the Benue State Secretariat to a 330 KVA power supply as part of efforts to incentivize and position state employees for optimal performance.

Speaking further, he said that as part of plans to motivate workers to perform optimally, the governor has also directed that the state secretariat be automated to check for such vices as absenteeism from duty.

“For the first time, 330 KVA has been extended to Government House, Makurdi and now we have electricity in Government House for at least 18 hours daily, before you think of alternative sources of power.

“Also, those of you who have been here for a while know that electricity has been an issue in the Benue State secretariat, and His Excellency has also extended 330 KVA to the secretariat.

“He did this because he has noticed that civil servants are not motivated, and it’s only when the workforce is motivated that there is a rise in productivity level.

On other welfare packages to motivate workers to put in their best, the CPS noted that “the Governor has also insisted that Civil servants in the state must be retrained at least once a year.

He also insisted that promotion must be constant but must be on merit, so every civil servant that is worth promoting should be one who wrote and passed his or her exams.”

According to him, “People who have less than one year to retire are now begging to retire because pensions are regular. Whoever retires from service from the 29^thof May, 2023, that we took over, his or her gratuity will be paid in full. (Saturday Telegraph)