The Kwara State Government has successfully cleared all the salary arrears for SUBEB teachers and local government workers, a backlog inherited from the administration of former Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed. This was disclosed in a statement by Rafiu Ajakaye, the Chief Press Secretary to the governor.
According to the statement, the figures from the last allocation meeting of the local government showed that the government committed N1,297,389,165.83 to clear the balance of the arrears owed to the SUBEB teachers. An additional N1,622,673,992.12 was apportioned to clear the balance of the arrears for the local government workers from the past administration.
The statement further revealed that between January 2020 and January 2024, the administration spent at least N5.5 billion to offset the arrears of salary for SUBEB teachers, local government workers, and local government pensioners. This is in addition to meeting its multi-billion naira monthly obligations to these categories of workers and many others since it was elected in 2019.
In a bid to boost the purchasing power of workers during these challenging times, the government has also approved cash-backing for the implementation of the 2022 promotion for teaching and non-teaching staff of the SUBEB.
Governor AbdulRazaq has consistently stated his commitment to clear all the salary and promotion arrears he inherited from his predecessor. This campaign promise has been fulfilled in phases since he assumed office in 2019. The statement concluded, “The final settlement of the SUBEB and local government salary arrears brings to a close the consistent agitation for the payment of the money, which dated back to 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019.”