Governors to Fed Govt: pay your debt

Governors have told the Federal Government to pay up its debt to states to boost liquidity.

This decision was taken yesterday at the meeting of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) in Abuja.

It was the first meeting of the forum in this post-May 29 dispensation when many new governors were elected.

Yesterday’s meeting  reviewed the cash crunch in the states –  as a result of which many have been unable to pay salaries for many months.

The governors may have jettisoned the proposal by All Progressives Congress (APC) Governors  after their meeting on Tuesday night that they expected a bailout from the Federal Government.

The governors will meet with the President next week, it emerged at the meeting held at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel.

Zamfara State Governor Abdulaziz Yari told reporters that they resolved that the Federal Government should pay for the various federal projects executed by the states.

“Instead of asking for a bailout, let us look for how the Federal Government can settle that backlog for us so that we can move forward. Nearly all the states are being owed by the Federal Government.

“Some of the states are being owed about N10 billion, some N20 billion, with a state like Lagos being owed more than N50 billion. So, if we can get that done, then most of the issues can be resolved in earnest,” Yari said.

Lamenting the poor state of the national economy, the governors observed that the problem of unpaid workers’ salaries was not peculiar to the states, adding that some Federal Government agencies also owed their workers.

Yari is optimistic that the planned meeting with the President will provide a lasting solution to the cash crunch.

“We discussed that extensively. And we are trying to see that we find a lasting solution. We are seeing the President to sit down with him. As we are, the Federal Government is also in the same problem because some of its agencies were not paid salaries for six months.

“So, it’s not only states that are owing. It’s the problem of the entire nation, not only states. We are going to work in synergy and keep our fingers crossed. We will meet with the President so that we can get a lasting solution to this problem,” he added.

The communique released by the governors after the meeting said the governors ratified Yari’s election as chairman of the Forum for a term of one year, renewable after expiration.

They also planned a retreat at a future date to discuss how states can become more viable and to identify means of improving governance.

The Forum pledged to work with the President and support him in the running of the government.

It also sympathised with states and victims of the Boko Haram insurgency in the Northeastern congratulated the Muslim community on the Ramadan.

Governors at the meeting were Akinwunmi Ambode (Lagos), Olusegun Mimiko (Ondo), who has been elected as Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum, Aminu Tambuwal (Sokoto), Udom Emmanuel (Akwa Ibom), Rauf Aregbesola (Osun), and Ifeanyi Okowa (Delta).

Adams Oshiomhole (Edo), Rochas Okorocha (Imo), Samuel Ortom (Benue), Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara), Umar Ganduje (Kano), Aminu Masari (Katsina), Ifeanyi Ugwanyi (Enugu) were also there.

There were also Governors Willie Obiano (Anambra), Mohammed Abubakr (Bauchi), Udom Emmanuel (Akwa Ibom) and Idris Wada (Kogi).

The post Governors to Fed Govt: pay your debt appeared first on The Nation.

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