Ademola-Banu
The Kwara State Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Demola Banu, has said that the non-payment of salaries by some state and local governments in the country is inhibiting national productivity.
Banu said only four states, including Kwara State, out of the 36 states of the federation had been managing to promptly pay their workers’ salaries. He promised that Kwara State would continue to pay workers’ salaries on or before 25th of every month, the dwindling revenue notwithstanding.
He spoke in an interview with journalists in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital on Tuesday on the sidelines of the state’s Joint Account Allocation Committee and human capital development summit.
He said if workers were not paid, it would not be possible for them to give their maximum productivity, adding that it could also threaten industrial relations.
Banu said that some states and local governments in the country were insolvent because of the dwindling allocation from the federation account.
He stated that if the trend was not urgently addressed, it might lead to a more nationwide financial crisis.
He however declined to name the 32 states owed salaries to avoid causing panic in the affected states and the entire country.
According to him, some local governments in the country are also owing their workers up to 10 months’ salaries. He stated that regardless of the revenue shortfall, the Kwara State Government would continue to discharge its financial obligations such as payment of salaries and payments to contractors.
Banu said the Kwara State Government and the 16 local governments in the state had a shortfall of N2.2bn in March.
According to him, the local governments shortfall stood at N800m while that of the state was N1.4bn.
According to him, the state government has been augmenting salaries of local governments in the state and will continue to ensure that local councils in the state do not finally suffocate.
He stated that the total revenue for local governments in the state in February was N1.971bn while the local governments’ expenditure excluding salary stood at N1.901bn
“If you deduct expenditure from revenue, you will discover that the local governments are left with N70m whereas they needed N849m to pay workers’ salaries monthly. It means that local governments need additional N779m to pay salaries for the month of February 2015.
“This is what all the states and local governments in the federation are experiencing since August 2013,but Kwara State has been paying its workers on or before 25th of every month and will continue to do so.
The Commissioner urged the Federal Government to urgently address the dwindling revenue before a major national financial crisis erupts.
He stated that though there was a fall in the international price of crude oil, the dwindling revenue started as far back as September, 2013.
According to him, the Federal Government blamed the shortfall on oil theft which he said was ridiculous as he wondered why with all its security agencies it could not address the menace for so long a time.
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