Niger State Governor Abubakar Sani Bello has said the proposed 70:30 per cent sharing ratio for salaries and infrastructure will not be stepped down.
In his Eid-el-Fitr message, Bello said the sharing ratio would enable government to maintain a human face and find solutions to its economic predicament.
Bello said 70 per cent of the state’s allocation from the federation account will be used to service salaries while 30 per cent for capital projects.
But organised labour protested the proposal and gave the government a two-week ultimatum to revert its decision or face indefinite strike. The ultimatum elapses on July 11.
The House of Assembly also condemned the decision, describing it as illegal and unconstitutional.
In his broadcast, Bello appealed to labour to join government to solve the problems.
“Very importantly, government intends to maintain its position on the utilisation of the federal account/bailout earnings at 70:30 ratio.
“We know that the country is facing a tough time, from paucity of funds, fall in national revenue earning and security challenges.”
He said the government had concluded plans to key into the CBN-anchor borrowers’ programme as a palliative to cushion the effect of the hardship and to enlarge farming.
The governor hinged the country’s economic challenges on decades of neglect of agriculture and over-dependence on oil.
Bello, who yesterday received the Emir of Minna, Alhaji Umar Faruk Bahago, advised Nigerlites to go back to farming and avail themselves of the credit packages designed to boost agriculture.
He said: “We have for long depended on oil and this has resulted to the challenges the country is facing today.
“Agriculture is an important sector that we all must take serious. The oil sector is being sabotaged and so we can no longer depend on oil to cater for our needs.
“It is time to go back to the farm. As a government, we have interacted with the people and they complained of lack of fertilisers and we will provide fertilizsers for them.”
He assured farmers that the fertiliser distribution will begin in few days, adding that efforts were on to avoid last year’s experience where the commodity did not get to those who need it.
Alhaji Bahago called on the people to seize the CBN initiative and embrace agriculture as a means of livelihood.
“I call on you to take advantage of the opportunity to enrol into the scheme. Go through local government chairmen, district heads and key into the programme. You can also form cooperatives to access the loan,” he said.
The emir praised the government for its proactive measures towards ensuring peace and security in the state.