Workers
from across the country have welcomed the news of the approval by President
Muhammadu Buhari of a special bailout package for the three tiers of government
to settle outstanding salary obligations.
However,
the workers and other analysts have warned government officials, especially
state governors, against spending the money on frivolous things instead of
paying civil servants and public service employees.
Presidency sources had disclosed on Monday that
Buhari had approved a comprehensive relief package worth N713.7bn to pay
federal workers and bail out cash-strapped states, many of which had been
unable to pay their employees.
The
package includes the sharing of $1.6bn dividend and $500m tax by the Nigerian
Liquefied Natural Gas Limited paid between the federal and state governments.
Besides,
the Central Bank of Nigeria is to set up a special intervention fund that will
offer between N250bn and N300bn as a soft loan to the states to enable them pay
the backlog of salaries.
The
President also apppunchng a debt relief programme proposed by the Debt
Management Office, which would help the states to restructure their commercial
loans with banks currently put at over N660bn to extend the life span of such loans
and reduce the states’ debt servicing expenditures.
In Osun
State, the Chairman of the state chapter of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, Mr.
Wakeel Amudah, on Tuesday hailed Buhari for approving the bailout package.
He said
the approval of the funds for the states, including Osun, was a confirmation
that God answers prayers.
He said
any governor, who diverted the funds, should be sanctioned heavily by the
President.
Amudah
said, “We can only advise our governor and his colleagues to adhere religiously
to the purpose for which the money is meant for. We have to drum it into their
ears not to divert the funds.
“I will
also suggest that the President should sanction any governor who diverts the
fund for other uses. The money is meant for the payment of salaries of workers
and it should be strictly used for that purpose.”
A cross
section of workers in Cross River State on Tuesday commended the President’s
gesture, but insisted that the funds must be properly monitored so as not to
create an avenue for another round of corruption.
A
Calabar-based legal practitioner and activist, Chief Utum Eteng said, “The
gesture shows the unparalleled generosity of President Muhammadu Buhari. The
bailout is for all the states and not the APC controlled states alone.
“However,
releasing money to the states requires proper supervision of disbursement
because that is the hotbed for both corruption and stealing. Some governors may
end up not paying this money if not properly monitored.”
The
Chairman of the state Trade Union Congress, Mr. Clarkson Otu, said the bailout
was commendable as it would allow the state governments to reposition their
economies and start afresh.
“There was
just no way the state governments would have continued to run. This bailout is
commendable. It will enable the governments to pay salaries and reposition
themselves,” he said.
In Oyo
State, the state civil servants received the news with mixed feelings. While
some were optimistic that their situation would change for the better, others
said it was a thing of shame that state governments could accumulate many
months of unpaid salaries, wondering what would have been the workers’ fate if
the Federal Government had not intervened.
A
mid-level officer in the state Ministry of Health, who did not give his name,
urged the state government to restructure its spending and boost savings.
The state
chairman of the NLC, Waheed Olojede, said it was too early for celebration
because no one was sure of how much the states would get.
The
Nigeria Voters’ Assembly also commended the President for bailing out the
states that were facing difficulties paying their workers’ salaries.
In a
statement signed by its President, Mashood Erubami, the group described the
gesture of the President as welcoming and lifesaving.
A civil
right activist and Bayelsa State Coordinator, Environmental Right Action, Mr.
Alagoa Morris, urged the governors to ensure that the money was used for the
purpose it was approved.
“The state
governors should ensure the funds are used to bridge the lacuna in salaries and
pensions, especially in Bayelsa State where pensioners are crying out over
unpaid gratuities,” he said.
Though he
commended Buhari for the gesture, he wondered where he got the money from when
he had already claimed that he met an empty treasury.
The Kogi
State Government and the state Chairman of the NLC, Mr. Onuh Edoka, described
the bailout by Buhari as a cheering development.
The state
Commissioner for Information, Zainab Okino, said the bailout came at an
appropriate time when many state governments had become cash-strapped.
“The
bailout has come in the nick of time when almost all state governments in
Nigeria are cash-strapped. It will help a lot in the payment of salaries.
Though we have been paying salaries and owe only a month, it nevertheless will
shore up the finances of the state government,” she said.
Edoka
urged state governments across the nation to ensure that the money was strictly
used for the payment of workers’ salaries.
He also
advised state governors to make the payment of workers’ salaries a top
priority, adding that infrastructural development should not be prioritised
above the payment of salaries.
Some
stakeholders in Ondo State commended the President for the gesture, saying it
would go a long way in ameliorating the sufferings of the workers as a result
of the non-payment of their salaries.
The state
Commissioner for Information, Mr. Kayode Akinmade, explained that the
development was the outcome of a meeting of the state governors and the
President.
The
Chairman of the Joint Negotiating Council of the NLC and Trade Union Congress
in the state, Mr. Sunday Adeleye, commended the President for the gesture,
adding that with the development, there would not be any excuse for any state
government to owe salaries again.
The Kwara
State Chairman of the TUC, Mr. Olumoh Kolawole, the organised labour would
monitor the utilisation of the bailout funds.
The Centre
for Social Justice, however, faulted the bailout package approved by the
President, stating that the release of the funds would encourage fiscal
rascality.
The Lead
Director, CSJ, Mr. Eze Onyekpere, said while the intervention appeared good on
the surface, a careful analysis of the legal and policy implications of the
move indicated that the Federal Government might be setting a bad precedent in
the area of fiscal governance.
For
instance, he said in all the discussions between the President and the
governors that preceded the bailout package, there was no mention or
acknowledgement of the contributions of the governors to the inability of their
states to pay the workers and the parlous state of their finances.
Ekiti
State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, said the N2.1bn accruable to the state from the
N413.7bn dividend and tax paid by the NLNG was not a bailout but a legitimate
earning of the state a one of the federating units in the country.
Source: Punch
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