President Buhari says it is 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 at the Presidential Villa yesterday April 28th, President 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. He added 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.
Buhari 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. He 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 the 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 fulfill their constitutional responsibilities.
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