President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday lamented
that despite the various interventions by the Federal Government, there were
still complaints and agitations by workers over unpaid salaries and allowances
by state governments.
He wondered how the unpaid workers had been
managing to meet their needs.
Buhari made his position known while addressing a
delegation of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, led by the forum’s chairman,
Abdulaziz Yari, when they visited him in the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Yari had led Governor Emmanuel Udom of Akwa Ibom
State, representing the South-South; Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State, representing
the North-West; Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State, representing the
North-Central; Deputy Governor of Ebonyi State, Dr. Eric Igwe, representing the
South-East; Mohammed Abubakar of Bauchi State, representing the North-East; and
Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State, representing the South-West, to a meeting with
the President.
During the meeting the governors, through Yari,
requested that the President ensure the release of the 50 per cent of the Paris
Club loan refund so that the funds could be built into the 2018 budgets of the
state governments.
The various interventions the current
administration had extended to states included bailouts, Paris Club loan refund
and budget support.
Some governors were alleged to have diverted part
of the bailouts.
The President told the governors that the plight
of workers in the states needed urgent attention as many could barely survive.
“How can anyone go to bed and sleep soundly when
workers have not been paid their salaries for months.
“I actually wonder how the workers feed their
families, pay their rents and even pay school fees of their children,” he said.
Buhari told the governors that two out of the
three-pronged focus of the ruling All Progressives Congress to secure the
country and fight corruption had received some commendable reviews by the
people, noting that the challenge in payment of salaries in states had taken a
toll on the people.
“God has been merciful in hearing the prayers of
his servants; so, the rainy season has been good. You can ask the Kebbi State
governor on this, and our enormous food importation bill has gone down,” he
said.
Buhari said the Federal Government and governors
would need to work together to ameliorate the situation of workers across the
country.
The President said he had instructed all
government agencies to comply with the Treasury Single Account in order to
ensure more transparency and prudence in accounting for the revenues of the
government and the sharing of entitlements with states.
The statement quoted Yari as saying the various
interventions by the Federal Government, which include the bailouts, were
judiciously utilised by the states.
He stressed that the governors inherited backlog
of unpaid salaries and huge debt portfolios on assumption of office.
“We are concerned with the situation in our
states, and we are trying our best to manage the resources,” he said.
Yari noted that the bailouts, and part of the
fallout from the London-Paris Club refund that had been received by the states,
were properly expended to alleviate the plight of workers, but more had to be
done.
The NGF chairman commended the efforts of the
President in improving the economy, assuring him that the states would continue
working with the Federal Government to improve the livelihood of workers and
all Nigerians.
Speaking to State House correspondents at the end
of the meeting which lasted about two hours, Yari said the governors were in
the Villa to thank the President for the previous bailouts as well as the Paris
Club refund, which he said has helped them in meeting the obligations of their
states.
He said, “We are here on behalf of the 36 state
governors and this is a result of the collective decision to see the President
after the National Economic Council meeting last month.
“Our mission here is simple. We are here to thank
Mr. President for his concern about the state of the economy and for giving us
several supports, ranging from bailout, restructuring our debts, Paris Club
exit payment.
“We also told him that we think that it was
because of his decision to grant us bailouts and pay the refund of the Paris
Club loan that many Nigerians are criticising him; this is the reason why we
got out of recession.”
The NGF chairman added, “We thank the President
for that and at the same time, as a father, we said to him Mr. President, you
remember that in 2016, we presented to you the numbers of Paris Club loan exit
funds which we agreed, and you directed (that) we be paid 50 per cent and the
remaining 50 per cent, upon reconciliation.
“Reconciliation has been on since 2016. We are
hoping that both the Debt Management Office, Ministry of Finance, Attorney
General of the Federation, and our consultants are concluding this
reconciliation by November.
“So, we want to crave your indulgence so that we
can factor the numbers into our 2018 budget, so that we can use it for projects
and other recurrent spending according to the specification given by our
respective Houses of Assembly; and that’s why we are here.
“Mr. President was prompt being that he has a
representative in the National Economic Council; that is the Vice-President,
and the Minister of Finance is away. We are going to work on the numbers when
he (Buhari) returns from his trip. We are going to follow up this meeting with
him so that we can conclude on what is going to be done next.”
