By Nick Dugba. Taraba state government has used the Paris club fund for the purposes meant for by following the ‘Due Process’ even as it claimed the Federal Government could not determine to it how it would spend the money. From Left to Right – Mrs Rose Garba Ajiya (Secretary, Taraba state Pensions Board), Elder Nuhu Abe (Chairman, Taraba State Pensions Board),Hon. Rebo Usman (Chief of Staff, Taraba state Government House) and Hon. Emmanuel Bello (Senior Special Assistant to Governor Darius Ishaku, Public Affairs) This revelation was made Thursday, by the Chief of Staff, Government House Administration, Rebo Usman, during the weekly media parley organized by the Office of the Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs, tagged ‘Face the Press’. According to Usman, the fund was not necessarily meant for payment of pensions and gratuity and must not be ‘mistaken’ for that purpose. He added that the state has its peculiarities and challenges and that the Federal government could not dictate to it what to do with its money. On the second edition of the event, the State Pensions Board met with journalists to discuss issues of pension in the state. The Chief of Staff, who himself is a Chartered Accountant and a former Commissioner of Finance in the state, said that the state has been operating a pension system that was not ‘sustainable’. He blamed the non-implementation of the pensions reforms in the state to the inability of the state to ‘apply sound financial management techniques and practices’. He also revealed that the present government met the situation in the state in a total mess hence the need to ‘rationalize and prioritize’, and that it would be more sensible to give what would go round and not give to a few people. In his contribution, Chairman of the State Pensions Board, Elder Nuhu Abe, revealed that a total of N9, 699, 931.48 was being owed pensioners as at 10 January 2017, which was a backlog since past administrations and that it was still counting. Also, reports showed that there is a total of 3,482 pensioners with the state having a monthly pension burden of N173, 186, 110.19 as at January 2017. He then assured that the government was concerned about the issue of pensions and gratuity and that it was now 10 years that there were outstanding pensions and gratuities. However, on the complaints of pensioners in the state having not received their pensions, Secretary of the Board, Rose Garba Ajiya, indicated that it was not the fault of the Board but rather the pensioners who don’t always show up to get their entitlements. The program was attended by journalists in the state covering radio, television, newspaper and online. Also in attendance were the staff of the Taraba State Pensions Board and the host, Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs to the Governor, Hon. Emmanuel Bello.