There are indications that President Muhammadu Buhari will
bailout states currently owing backlog of workers salaries in order to
help cushion the effects of the non-payment on the Nigerian economy.
This
disclosure was made by Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State who was
speaking in Makurdi, the state capital, during a meeting with students
and other union leaders from the Benue State University, (BSU).
The governor revealed that his predecessor, Gabriel Suswam left behind a debt burden of over N90 billion for his administration.
According
to Vanguard, Benue is reportedly among the distressed states in the
country. Others include Osun, Enugu, Kaduna, Plateau and Imo. Most of
the states and their local governments are allegedly owing between four
to six months salaries of workers.
Ortom said, “the list of
the debt (left behind by Suswam) include N50 billion incurred from
ongoing contracts, N18 billion on certificated contracts, N12 billion on
salary arrears and about N10 billion for bonds and bank facilities and
loans.”
He stated that his government had concluded arrangements to borrow
funds to pay one month salary across board and to also ensure both the
executive and legislative arms of government resume their duties.
He
told the BSU students that he was determined to address their problems
and to persuade striking tertiary institution workers to call off their
four-months-old strike.
Earlier, President of the BSU Students’
Union Government, Bobby Taver-shima, told the governor that students of
the university had been at home for four months.
In a similar
vein, a representative of the National Association of Nigerian Students,
Gideon Obande appealed to Ortom to clear arrears of bursary owed
students in the state.
Recently, Kaduna
State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, disclosed that some of the
appointees of the ex-president, Goodluck Jonathan, has started
returning some of the stolen funds they carted away while serving in the government.
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