The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Governor Darius Ishaku

  • Taraba government denies owing pensioners

    Taraba government denies owing pensioners

    The Taraba State government Thursday insisted it is not owing any pensioner in the state.

    “We are up to date in terms of payment of pensions. Even last month (January), our retired civil servants collected their monthly pensions,” Chairman of the Taraba State Pensions Board Nuhu Aber said.

    Aber spoke during an interactive session with newsmen called ‘Face the Press,’ organised by Emmanuel Bello, Governor Darius Ishaku’s senior aide on Public Affairs.

    There have been allegations that the Taraba State government has not been paying its retirees their pensions and gratuities. But the Pensions Board chairman Thursday challenged any pensioner who has not been collecting his/her pension to show up at the board, “if they have the necessary documentary records and have not been paid, they would be paid immediately,” Aber said.

    Aber was accompanied at the Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs –the venue, by the Chief of Staff Rebo Usman, the secretary of the Pensions Board and a finance director.

    The Chief of Staff Rebo Usman, who differentiated pension from gratuity, explained that for pension, the state has paid up to date. But for gratuity, it has owed since 2007, saying “but it is not the fault of the state government.”

    “The problem started since the Olusegun Obasanjo administration,” Usman said.

    The pension board said the Taraba State government pays at least N173 million pension to 3,482 retirees monthly.

    The board however, said it is owing some 3,547 retired civil servants an accumulated gratuity of about N9.7 billion since 2007. “But the fault is not from the present administration. The reasons are that we couldn’t cue into the reformed pension scheme, and because of lack of proper financial management principles and techniques,” the chief of staff said.

    Usman, however could not answer what is stopping the state government from doing the needful, when asked by one reporter.

    The board said the pension is more important and can go round unlike the gratuity which involves bigger money that cannot go round, which is why the government prefers to pay pension.

  • Taraba: S/Court give reasons for dismissing Alhassan’s appeal

    The Supreme Court on Monday said the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its governorship candidate in Taraba, Aisha Alhassan, had no locus standi to challenge the nomination of Governor Darius Ishiaku by his party.

    The apex court made the declaration while giving reasons for dismissing the appeal of APC and Alhassan in its judgment on Feb.11.

    Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour, who read details of the judgment, said the appeals and cross appeals had no redeemable substance.

    The court held that the governor was duly sponsored by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to contest in the election, adding that evidence brought before it had confirmed Ishiaku’s membership of the party.

    “The matter is very simple, the apex court has ruled on matters of this nature at different occasions.

    “There is no way a candidate of another political party who did not participate in the primaries of another political party could suddenly rise to challenge the conduct of such an exercise.

    “It is therefore, clear that the appeals and the entire cross appeals against the election of Governor Darius Ishiaku of Taraba have no redeemable substance,” Rhodes-Vivour held.

    The apex court also declared that the Taraba State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal grossly misdirected itself by upturning Ishiaku’s victory.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the tribunal had nullified the
    governor’s election and went ahead to declare Alhassan as duly elected governor of Taraba.

    An appeal by Ishiaku set aside the tribunal judgement, prompting Alhassan and the APC to approach the apex court, which dismissed their appeals and affirmed the validity of the governor’s election.

  • Taraba Assembly clears 20 commissioner nominees

    Taraba Assembly clears 20 commissioner nominees

    The Taraba House of Assembly on Thursday cleared all the 20 commissioner nominees sent to it by Governor Darius Ishaku for confirmation.

    The Speaker of the house, Mr Abel Diah, who spoke shortly after the event, thanked members “for painstakingly going through the exercise.’’

    He said that the House was satisfied with the presentations made by the nominees and expressed hope that they would bring their wealth of experience to bear on the rescue mission in the state.

    Diah, who noted that the state needed more vibrant hands to move forward, expressed confidence in the ability of the commissioners to assist the governor to deliver on his campaign promises.

    The speaker noted that the nomination and confirmation of the 20 commissioners took into consideration the diversity of the state with a view to ensuring fair representation in the government.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the list comprises 18 men and two women.