S/West Governors Tell FG: 2nd Tranche Of Paris Club Refund Meagre

With Federal Government’s recent release of N243.8 billion as the second tranche of Paris Club Refund, one would expect smiles on the faces of state governors.

But this is not the case with south-western governors as the release of the funds appear to come with increased groaning.

Governors in the South-west have said while the released funds will help in handling their immediate needs, they will be left with close to nothing after disbursing the monies.

Ekiti for instance said the 4.7 billion it received from the second tranche comes short by N3 billion of what it requires to cater for the state’s total wage bill.

This was according Lere Olayinka, the Special Assistant on Public Communication and New Media to Governor Fayose.

Olayinka said in a statement: “The noise about the Paris Club refund made by the Federal Government is unnecessary because we will still have much left undone after the funds have been disbursed.”

Similarly, Ondo Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Segun Ajiboye, said the N7 billion it received will not be sufficient to settle backlogs of workers’ salaries in the state.

Osun said, considering its monthly wage bill of N3.7 billion and an estimated N48 billion owed to workers, the N6.3 billion it received would be insufficient.

This was according to Director of Communications and Strategy to the Osun State Government, Semiu Okanlawon.

In Oyo, the State Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Toye Arulogun, said, “Oyo State has received N7.9 billion which is the state’s own share of the Paris fund and then the way I will like to address is that let us look at the antecedent of this government. The first tranche we got, 62 percent was used to pay workers’ salaries and the balance for the developmental project,” he said.

“So what else do you think we will use this new tranche for? The government is committed to workers welfare so certainly, we are going to use a large chunk of it to pay workers’ salaries.

“The government is not happy with the state of things so the government is ready to address all those downsides financially and we will have to make sure that people become happier citizens,” he added.