Gombe state government, on Friday said it had spent N1.6 billion on the payment of 2015 retirees in the state.
Governor Inuwa Yahaya, stated this in Gombe on Friday during a state wide broadcast to mark his one year in office.
He said that in spite of limited resources inherited from the previous administration, the welfare of both serving and retired civil servants was paramount in view of their contribution to the development of the state.
“So far, we have settled outstanding gratuities to the tune of N1.6 billion for 2015 retirees.
“In the same vein, consideration is being given to serving civil servants based on a defined arrangement.
“It is our hope that other welfare package for existing civil servants like housing and transportation, will be considered when the economic situation improves,”he said.
The governor also stated that in the education sector, about 300,000 out-of-school children were taken back to school through Better Education and Service Delivery for All (BESDA) programme.
He stated that the state government had also paid over N1.5billion as counterpart funds in respect of developmental programmes in the areas of health, education, agriculture, and environment.
In education sector, Yahaya said within the period under review, 234 classrooms were constructed across 80 schools and 190 classrooms were renovated in 47 schools.
He said this was in addition to rehabilitating four legacy Secondary Schools namely GSSS, Gombe, Kaltungo, GSS, Dukku and GGSS Kuri, to restore their lost glory.