The governor revealed this to reporters on Saturday in Kano, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
NAN reminds us that since taking office, the governor has voiced his discontent over the almost N40 billion backlog of unpaid gratuities from the previous administration.
In two out of five years, the governor vowed to clear the backlog.
According to Yusuf, the choice was made on Wednesday during the weekly Executive Council meeting.
He emphasized that the money to be paid was not borrowed from anyone and the retirees of lower grade level, starting at N1 million, would benefit from the gratuities.
The governor expressed his deep concern for the situation of retired state employees who have served their state but whose benefits have not been paid by the previous administration.
We have the beneficiary lists and the funds on hand, so we'll start paying them right away next week.
"The topic of retired federal servants' gratuities is something I think about every night and morning. I consider how to resolve and get rid of this backlog constantly.To help me move forward, I routinely call meetings with the Chairman of the Pension Trust Fund, the Accountant General, and other individuals.
During this discussion, we made the decision to begin paying low-grade individuals whose sums have not beyond N1 million or are only slightly above N1 million, down to about N150,000 or N250,000.
"We have the names of over 5,500 of them, and I asked them to put the list together."Insha'Allah, they will get their gratuities by next week. Our calculations put the overall value at almost N6 billion, and the State Executive Council has now approved it.
Additionally, let me inform you that the funds are on hand. To cover this gratuity, we haven't taken out any loans," he remarked.
Yusuf reaffirmed his commitment to serving the people of Kano and urged the people to cooperate with his government as much as possible for the state's overall development.
"Regardless of political party affiliations, we are in the system to bring about positive change through good democratic governance that would meet the expectations of our people," he stated.