Monthly allocations not enough to pay salaries – Govs

Olalekan Adetayo, Abuja

SOME state governors on Thursday said the monthly allocations from the Federation Account were not enough to pay their workers’ salaries.

The state chief executives also complained that they were still having challenges in paying their workers in spite of the bailout by the Federal Government.

The governors said they were having challenges because monthly allocations accruable to the states from the Federal Allocation had reduced significantly due to the fall in prices of crude oil in the global market.

The governors said this during the fifth National Economic Council meeting chaired by the Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, in Abuja.

Also at the meeting, the Federal Government said it had started investigating some agencies generating revenues in foreign currency but remitting same in local currency.

The affected agencies are alleged to be generating money in the United States dollars but are remitting same into the Federation Account in naira.

The Cross River State Governor, Prof. Ben Ayade, who briefed journalists after the meeting said this.

Those who joined Ayade at the post-NEC briefing are Governors Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State; Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State; and Darius Ishaku of Taraba State.

Answering a question on the Federal Government’s bailout to state governments, Mimiko described the measure as a temporary one.

He said some state governors raised the alarm during the NEC meeting that despite the bailout, it would still be difficult for them to be paying salaries monthly in the face of dwindling revenue.

The governor said, “The bailout is a temporary assistance to the states to pay salaries. The bailout is the calculation of arrears of salaries being owed by states.

“The truth of the matter is that because of the ongoing fall in revenue, accruals to states from the Federation Account and IGR are reducing.

“Many states complained to the council today (Thursday) that these accruals will still not be enough to pay salaries monthly.

“The issue of the bailout is not the final solution to the perpetual fall in accruals although there is no question about the fact that it has helped the states.”

Ayade said the Central Bank of Nigeria had been saddled with the responsibility of probing the dollar generating agencies.

He listed the agencies under probe to include the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Nigerian Ports Authority and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, among others.

“A brief report of Federal Government dollar generating revenue agencies remitting in naira into the Federation Account was also given by the CBN governor. He said investigations are ongoing. Such agencies include but not limited to NNPC, NIMASA and NPA,” he said.

He added that 27 states had so far applied for the concessionary loans approved by the Federal Government.

He said, “We also discussed the concessionary loans to states based on collateralisation of the Excess Crude Account. The CBN governor briefed that 27 states have made request for the $10bn facility and it is currently being processed.

“He has called on the affected states to complete all necessary documentations for the effective release of the said money.

“It is important to note that not all states have expressed interest in the ECA collaterised loan.”

Ayade also said that the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, briefed the council about the Excess Crude Account, which he said stood at about $2.25bn as of October 15.

He said Osinbajo also briefed the council on the details of the planned refund of funds spent by state governments on the repairs of federal roads.

He quoted the Vice-President as saying that efforts were underway to refund all state governments that had followed the right procedure and due process in incurring expenses.

He added that Osinbajo also informed the council that the Federal Government was compiling a list of states affected by flood with the aim of assisting them.

Other governors who attended the meeting included those of Delta, Adamawa, Lagos, Zamfara, Kwara, Anambra, Plateau, Nasarawa and Kano states.

Others are those of Bauchi, Sokoto, Ogun, Yobe, Imo, Niger, Borno, Benue, Oyo, Ebonyi, Abia, Kaduna, Osun, Edo, Kebbi and Kogi states.

The rest of the governors were represented by their deputies.