The Kebbi State Government has explained that the non-payment of pension, gratuity and related retirement benefits to the state’s first civilian Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Garkuwan Yauri, is based on legal provisions governing eligibility for such entitlements, insisting that the situation should not be misconstrued as neglect by the administration of Governor Nasir Idris.
The government was reacting to claims by Garkuwan Yauri that Governor Idris had abandoned him and withheld his 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 demonstrated goodwill and respect towards the former governor through various forms of assistance, notwithstanding the government’s position that he does not qualify for formal pension and gratuity payments under the applicable legal provisions.
Ahmed-BK listed some of the gestures to include regular financial support during Ramadan, Eid-el-Fitr and Eid-el-Kabir celebrations, sponsorship of more than two medical trips to Egypt, and the naming of a hall at Government House after the former governor in 2025 in recognition of his contributions to the state.
He further disclosed that Governor Idris facilitated the appointment of Garkuwan Yauri’s son as a career ambassador and approved an increase in compensation due to the former governor on a government construction project after he rejected the initial valuation.
According to the commissioner, the former governor had received other forms of assistance which the government had deliberately chosen not to disclose out of respect for his privacy and dignity.
The commissioner also dismissed allegations that Governor Idris had refused to maintain contact with the elder statesman. He explained that the governor personally called Garkuwan Yauri during his governorship aspiration to seek his blessings and prayers, but the former governor declined the request, citing his membership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Ahmed-BK added that he had, on more than two occasions, led senior government officials and media aides to the former governor’s residence in Kaduna to convey the governor’s goodwill and sustain cordial relations, but the overtures had not received the expected response.
On the central issue of pension and gratuity, the commissioner maintained that the government’s position was strictly guided by the law and not by political considerations.
He explained that Garkuwan Yauri governed Kebbi State from January 1992 to November 1993, a period of approximately 22 months, which, according to the government, falls short of the mandatory two-year minimum service requirement for severance and pension benefits under the applicable provisions.
The commissioner 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.
He stressed that the directive related to the relevant constitutional framework for those who served between 1999 and 2003 and did not extend to governors who held office between 1991 and 1993, arguing that the 1999 Constitution does not provide for retrospective payment of such benefits to former governors who served 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,” Ahmed-BK said.
To further illustrate the government’s position, the commissioner cited the case of former Deputy Governor Suleiman Mohammed-Argungu, whose first tenure, lasting six months from December 2002 to May 2003, did not qualify him for gratuity because it fell below the required service threshold.
However, 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.
Ahmed-BK maintained that eligibility for such benefits must be determined by the applicable law and length of service rather than political affiliation, personal relationships or administrative discretion.
The commissioner urged the former governor to acknowledge the development projects executed by the Nasir Idris administration in Yauri, his hometown, while encouraging all parties to ensure that public allegations are supported by verifiable facts.
He said the government would have preferred to avoid a public exchange with the elder statesman but considered it necessary to clarify the legal position and respond to allegations of neglect that could create a misleading impression of the administration’s relationship with the former governor.
Ahmed-BK reaffirmed the Kebbi State Government’s commitment to the rule of law, responsible governance and respect for elder statesmen, stressing that the administration’s position on the former governor’s formal retirement benefits should not be interpreted as a denial of the goodwill and assistance extended to him.
