The Kebbi State Government has defended its decision not to pay pension, gratuity and other retirement benefits to the state’s first civilian governor, Alhaji Abubakar Garkuwan Yauri, insisting that the action is based on legal provisions rather than neglect by Governor Nasir Idris.
The government was reacting to allegations by the former governor that Idris had abandoned him and withheld his retirement entitlements.
Addressing a press conference in Birnin Kebbi on Tuesday, the Commissioner for Information and Culture, Alhaji Yakubu Ahmed-BK, said the present administration had continued to demonstrate goodwill towards the elder statesman through financial assistance, medical support and other gestures.
According to him, the government has provided financial assistance to Garkuwan Yauri during Ramadan, Eid-el-Fitr and Eid-el-Kabir celebrations, sponsored more than two of his medical trips to Egypt and named a hall at the Government House after him in 2025 in recognition of his contributions to the state.
The commissioner also disclosed that Governor Idris facilitated the appointment of the former governor’s son as a career ambassador and approved an upward review of compensation due to Garkuwan Yauri for a government construction project after he rejected the initial valuation.
Ahmed-BK added that the government had provided other forms of assistance that it would not disclose publicly out of respect for the former governor’s privacy and dignity.
He also rejected claims that Idris had deliberately cut off communication with the former governor, explaining that the governor personally contacted him during his governorship ambition to seek his blessings and prayers.
However, according to the commissioner, Garkuwan Yauri declined the request, citing his membership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Ahmed-BK further said he had led senior government officials and media aides to the former governor’s residence in Kaduna on more than two occasions to convey the governor’s goodwill and maintain cordial relations.
He maintained that the government’s position on the pension dispute was guided strictly by the law and not by political considerations.
Why government says pension is not payable
The commissioner explained that Garkuwan Yauri governed Kebbi State from January 1992 to November 1993, a period of approximately 22 months, which the government said fell short of the minimum two-year service requirement for severance and pension benefits under the applicable provisions.
He recalled that the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), in a letter addressed to the then governor and Speaker of the State House of Assembly in February 2010, directed that pension and gratuity for governors and deputy governors be administered in accordance with Sections 84(5) and 124(5) of the 1999 Constitution.
Ahmed-BK argued that the constitutional provisions cited by the commission did not extend to governors who served between 1991 and 1993, insisting that the 1999 Constitution did not provide for retrospective payment of such benefits to former governors who left office before its commencement.
“Successive administrations in Kebbi, long before the present one, therefore relied on these constitutional and statutory provisions to exclude Alhaji Abubakar Garkuwan Yauri from the payment of formal severance gratuity, pension and related entitlements,” he said.
To support the government’s position, Ahmed-BK cited the case of former Deputy Governor Suleiman Mohammed-Argungu, whose first tenure, lasting six months between December 2002 and May 2003, did not qualify him for gratuity because it fell below the required service period.
He explained that Argungu subsequently became eligible after serving three years and nine months during his second tenure, from May 2003 to February 2007, before voluntarily resigning.
The commissioner stressed that eligibility for retirement benefits must be determined by the applicable legal provisions and length of service rather than political affiliation, personal relationships or administrative discretion.
He urged the former governor to acknowledge development projects executed by the Idris administration in Yauri, his hometown, while calling on all parties to ensure that public allegations were supported by verifiable facts.
Ahmed-BK said the government would have preferred to avoid a public exchange with the elder statesman but considered it necessary to clarify its position to prevent what he described as a misleading impression of the administration’s relationship with the former governor.
He reaffirmed the state government’s commitment to the rule of law, responsible governance and respect for elder statesmen, insisting that the decision concerning Garkuwan Yauri’s formal retirement benefits should not be interpreted as a denial of the goodwill and assistance extended to him.
