States Inability To Pay Salaries Worries Buhari

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (right), discussing with Managing Partners, Perchstone and Graeys, Mr Osaro Eghobamien (left), Acting Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Bank of Industry, Mr Waheed Olagunju (2nd Left), Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Jevkon Oil and Gas Ltd, Dr George Onyung (3rd Left), during a meeting of chief executive officers of Indian Conclave at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, yesterday

President Muhammadu Buhari said, yesterday in Abuja, that it was a matter of great concern to him 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.
Speaking at a meeting with members of the Nigeria Governor Forum (NGF) at the Presidential Villa, Buhari said that he was very disturbed by the hardship which state government workers across the country and their families were facing due to the non-payment of salaries.
To ameliorate the hardship being faced by affected workers, the president said that the Federal Government will strive to make more funds available to the states by expediting action on refunds due to them for the maintenance of federal roads and other expenses incurred on behalf of the Federal Government.
Buhari also said that he will establish an inter-ministerial committee to study a Fiscal Restructuring Plan for the Federation which was presented to him by the governors.
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 urged the governors, however, 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.
The Chairman of the Governors Forum, Governor Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State and Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State, who chaired the committee that worked on the Fiscal Restructuring Plan, asked the Federal Government to do more to help the states financially.
The governors told the president that while they had resolved to take other measures to boost their internally-generated revenue, the implementation of the Fiscal Restructuring Plan will help them to deal with their funding problems on short, medium and long-term bases.
They said that if the plan was adopted and implemented by the Federal Government, states of the federation will become more financially empowered to fulfil their constitutional responsibilities.
Meanwhile, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is one that is designed to getting things done.
Noting that Nigerians have never lacked ideas, he stated that time has come for the nation to transform brilliant ideas into reality by diligently following-up on plans and coming together to achieve objectives.
Osinbajo stated this, yesterday, after receiving at the Presidential Villa, a delegation of Nigerian CEOs who attended the Indian Manufacturing Conclave-an industrial conference- last month in New Delhi.
“Almost all of us are certain about what the country needs to do but the critical problem is the capacity to get things done. What is important is what we do with all the ideas,” according to the vice president.
Osinbajo listened to the conference experiences from the trip shared by members of the delegation, including on different sectors and areas of the economy such as Power & Energy, ICT, Maritime, Financing, SMEs etc.
The Vice President then commended the business leaders for their efforts and the visit to his office, adding that “Nigerians know what to do, but the time has come to really work on getting things done. The problem has been on how to really get things done.”
He called on all Nigerians in their different callings and endeavours to work together, adding that it is the intention of the Buhari presidency “to look for ways that the important sectors of our national life will work together, and also get key sectors to work together with the government.”
Besides, the vice president noted government’s determination to encourage ‘Made in Nigeria’ products, including electric meters needed for billing, and encouraged linkages between federal research agencies and industry in order to develop local technological innovations.
Earlier, the leader of the delegation, Mr. Osaro Eghabamen, SAN, had commended the government for facilitating a public and private sectors’ collaboration regarding the Conclave in India, and this according to him, enabled the delegation learn a lot especially in the areas of ICT, ship building and using SMEs to grow the economy, among others.