Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River State is considering the establishment of a ‘sinking fund’ aimed to address the issue of gratuity to retiring civil servants in the state.
Governor Ayade disclosed this during the presentation of the 2022 fiscal Appropriation Bill before the state’s House of Assembly, on Friday.
According to him, “We are going to present in the next Executive Council Meeting, a request seeking the authorisation of the Executive Council to provide a sinking fund for the payment of gratuity.”
Contained in the budget tagged ‘Budget of Conjugated Agglutination’, Governor Ayade hinted that, “a minimum of N30 million to N50 million from the budget will be set aside monthly and committed to the sinking fund so that in every two to three months, we will be able to make a payment out for gratuity.”
Governor Ayade further revealed that “it is a decision l have already taken from my point of view.
“So, I will get the Executive Council extract and seek the House of Assembly’s final approval so that we can place an irrevocable standing payment order against our expected inflows. That way, our people who have retired do not suffer in vain.”