Ten months after Federal Government offered various sums in billions of naira to assist some states that were defaulting in payment of their workers salaries, the governors have gone back begging to be offered another support funds. Apparently worried that most states are still unable to meet their monthly salary obligation to workers, members of the Nigerian Governors Forum rose from a meeting Wednesday night in Abuja with the decision to approach the Federal Government to look for a short term solutions to this quagmire. This is even as the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) few days earlier released a report in which it accused most of the governors of states that benefited from the bailout funds released by the Federal Government in 2015 of having diverted the money to other purposes than payment of outstanding salaries of workers for which they had secured the funds. Even the Federal Government on Thursday confirmed that about 24 out of the 36 states of the federation still owed workers salaries, despite previous bail-out funds extended to them. President Muhammadu Buhari said the development was worrisome and called for out of the box solutions by the affected governors. This emerged after the governors met with the president on the dire strait of their financial status, and more particularly their predicament to meeting payment of the workers salaries. But the State governors under the auspices of Nigerian Governors Forum accused the Federal Government of bias in the revenue sharing formula of resources that acrues to the federation account. This, the governors said, must be subjected to a review by the government to assist the debtor states meet their salary obligations. The governors particularly want the Federal Government to reconsider its loan restructuring programme by offering at least another 18 months moratorium, to serve as a bail-out system, before they can map out repayment plans. The affected state governors hinged their inability to save and pay workers at the end of each month on the situation where they share only 26 percent of the national revenue while federal retains 52 percent. Chairman of the Governors Forum, Abdulaziz Yari told State House reporters, shortly after they met with the President that they would also like a situation where Federal Government would pay them funds used in the maintenance of federal roads and other expenses incurred on its behalf. Such measures they insisted would also boost their revenue profile considerably. Yari argued that till date all the support states have gotten from the Federal Government was in terms of bailout, deferred debts payment of one month and about 15% of the Excess Crude Account for development. He said since states provided a larger chunk of the resources that accrues to the federation account, it was only reasonable that they receive a larger percentage from the federation account. Yari also stated that debts owed the states since 2005, used by ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo as part of the money paid to Paris Club were still crippling the states. “Our meeting was centred on the economy, we deliberated amongst our colleagues and we passed our demands to the Federal Government to look at these demands per state. “You will agree with me that states are the landlords, we own the land and the people, so therefore the economy of this country lies in the state. Everything comes from the state, the oil, agricultural produce, mining and people are in the states while the Federal Government is in Abuja. “Therefore, if any state has any issues and is known to Mr. President, I doubt very much if he will be able to sleep with his two eyes closed. “We are closer to the people and have more challenges in the states, till date we have only received support from the Federal Government in terms of bailout, restructured debts and about 15 percent given to us from the Excess Crude Account for development. “All these are temporal measures. Each state has a programme; right from short, to mid, and long term, which we presented to Mr. President and he graciously accepted. “To develop IGR is not overnight, it is a long term programme that one has to plan for and our commitment to the people have increased and there is nothing we can do about it because people are getting their daily bread from us and we cannot say we are going to cut salaries and wages. “We have to find a lasting solution otherwise we would keep going back and forth because the plan you may have had for $100 per barrel and now that oil is selling for 28 and 31, you might find it difficult to achieve any thing, “the NGF Chairman added. President Buhari at the meeting, said he would explore modalities to make more funds available to them. According to the President, it was a matter of great concern that nearly two-thirds of states of the federation are still having difficulties with salary payments despite the bail-out funds provided to them by the Federal Government. To ameliorate the hardship being faced by affected workers, the President said that the Federal Government will expedite action on refunds due to them for the maintenance of federal roads and other expenses they must have incurred on its behalf. He said an inter-ministerial committee will be established to study a Fiscal Restructuring Plan for the Federation which will have the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo and Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola as members of the committee. The President said that the committee will review the plan to improve the finances of state governments and make recommendations on how proposals in the plan should be dealt with by the Presidency, the Federal Executive Council and the National Assembly through legislation. Buhari equally told the governors to understand that while he was ready to do all within his powers to help the states overcome their current financial challenges, the Federal Government also has funding problems of its own to contend with. “You all know the problems we have found ourselves in. You have to bear with us,” he told them. However, indications from the governors’ Wednesday meeting, held ahead of the meeting with President Buhari showed that they might in the neat future begin to mount pressure on the Federal Government to share the remaining $3.2billion dollars in the Excess Crude Accounts. The state governments had only N299billion in the April allocations shared by the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC), a development occasioned by dwindling oil price at the international market. These factors may have further plunged the Governors into dilemma of where to source funds to pay next month salaries. Recall that during the immediate past administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, the NGF then led by Bukola Saraki in 2008 instituted a lawsuit at the Supreme Court against the late Yar’adua government calling for the sharing of the $15billion ECA. But by the end of 2009 the money dropped from $15billion to $6.5billion, which Jonathan inherited and yielded to pressure by the governors’ forum to share in January 2010. The Governors met briefly again in Abuja, Wednesday night, where they gave indication that they were brainstorming on ways to diversify their respective state economies but would in the meantime require a short term solution to their problems. Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, Abdulazeez Yari, shortly after the meeting, told State House correspondents that no conclusion had been reached on the matter yet. Yari who is also the Governor of Zamfara State said, “The meeting was about the economy. You know we are in a very bad situation and we need to come together and discuss intensively about this economy because it is what is now giving the states headache and by extension the Federal Government. “If you look carefully at this month’s federation account, it is the worst ever in the last six years. “So, definitely we had to come to a round table. We were elected under different party platforms to perform, not just to pay salaries and it is worse off not to be able to pay salaries. “So, the issue is very serious that we are coming back to discuss it and if we have the opportunity, we will come back to see our leader Mr. President.” On the bailout package which the Federal Government recently gave state governments to help in salary payments, Yari said beyond regular bail-out funds, the governors were more interested in permanent solutions to the economic problem. “Although we are discussing about diversification but you should understand that it is a long term programme. We are looking for a short term formula for you to live, at least survive before the long term. “So on diversification, we are looking at agriculture, which was supposed to be the major focus long time ago but was neglected by the past administrations. “Now that we found ourselves in this situation, we are working harder to diversify the economy and to look forward to a more permanent solution should in case oil goes out of existence but at the same time we have to look for a short term solution.” Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, also confirmed that the meeting was about finding a lasting solution to the economic crisis. He said issues concerning the dwindling national economy ought to be seen and tackled as a concerted problem. Fayose however held a different opinion from Yari, saying past administrations never neglected agriculture as was alleged. He said, “That is subjective. Every leader at one time or the other must have done their best within the ambit of availability. “For me, every former President, every former leader had made their contributions and I commend them. The new people on the saddle of leadership must continue to give their best. “Before now, recession was in America and the West, now we have recession facing us. What we depend on as source of our revenue is dwindling. It is not the making of any man, it is another trend in our history that we have to deal with and we are doing just that. “We will do our best, we can only try our best, we have time and tenure.” Similarly, Akwa Ibom State Governor, Emmanuel Udom, said there was no one single meeting that could find a solution to all the economic issues. He said, “You convene and reconvene. No human being can know it all at a particular point in time. “The economic issues we have now is not only pertaining to Nigeria, it is a global issue, so you can’t just at one meeting of about two hours fashion out entire solution for the country. “We trouble shoot some points, we discuss those points and we have to weigh the impact of those points; both the positive, negative, the extreme, the mid-point. “And you know once you are bringing out certain policies, you also need to align those policies with the socio-cultural environment that you are operating in. “What may work in this part of the world may not work in other parts, even though it is a good policy. So realign and readjust and connect these things together and to bring out something that can work is not something a two-hour meeting can achieve.
posted by Oscar Uzoechi
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