The Kwara State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, on Monday, accused the Kwara State Government of diverting about N3bn that the state government recently received from the Federal Government to pay workers’ salaries and pensions in the state.
The PDP spokesperson in the state, Chief Rex Olawoye, in a statement, said the party was alarmed by the alleged diversion.
He added that the act was insensitive, and a total negation of the reasons behind the release of the funds.
Olawoye said, “Our party reliably learnt that the Kwara State share of the bailout funds was paid on Wednesday, July 8. But till this very moment, over five months’ salaries being owed some categories of workers in the state had yet to be paid.
“Even more curious is the fact that the Kwara State Government has kept mute on the exact amount it got from the Consolidated Revenue Account as bailout. Whereas, virtually all states of the federation, particularly Abia, Akwa Ibom, Edo, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Osun, Ogun, Oyo, Kano, Kastina and Kaduna states had publicly declared how much they got as bailout from the Federal Government.
“The APC-led government of Kwara State has kept silence over the funds, thereby confirming the rumor making the rounds that the sudden homecoming of the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, on the day the funds was disbursed to Kwara State was with a bid to partake in the illegal sharing of the bailout funds.”
The PDP called on labour unions in the state to prevail on the state government to immediately pay the arrears of salaries, allowances and pensions to ameliorate the suffering of workers in the state.
But Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed dismissed the allegation, saying it was untrue that his government had diverted N2.1bn he claimed the state government received recently from the Federal Government.
He also denied receiving N3bn from the Federal Government, saying the state government only received its share of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Company Limited dividends recently distributed to all tiers of government.
In a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communications, Dr. Muyideen Akorede, the governor said the state government had neither received a bailout from the Federal Government nor received the N3bn claimed by the PDP.
Ahmed said government officials had informed leaders of the state chapters of the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress during their meetings last week on the funds received and how they would be utilised.
He added that the figures received by the state government was in the public domain.
Ahmed noted that the N2.1bn dividend that the state government received from the NLNG was inadequate to cover the monthly obligations of the state which he put at N2.6bn.
According to him, these obligations included the payment of salaries of civil servants, teachers, pensions, gratuities and subventions to its various ministries, departments, agencies as well as tertiary institutions.
Speaking on the expected bailout from the Federal Government, Ahmed said the rescue package was expected to come in the form of a N300bn loan to restructure debts owed by states and a soft loan to states with significant salary arrears. Ahmed also dismissed as frivolous the PDP’s claim that Saraki’s recent visit to the state was linked to the receipt of the NLNG dividend.
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