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Tag: bailout fund

  • Governors uncomfortable with investigations into spending of bail-out funds – ICPC

    Chairman, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offence Commission (ICPC), Mr Ekpo Nta, said most state governors were jittery when the commission commenced investigations into the spending of bailout funds.

    Nta stated this in Bauchi on Monday in his speech at the opening of Bauchi State Anti-Corruption Summit, titled “Transparency and Accountability: A Panacea to Good Governance and Sustainable Development.

    He said that when the commission commenced investigations into coffers of state government accounts most of the governors were uncomfortable.

    “Most of the governors thought I was going to find out how the bail funds were utilized, not knowing that the commission had different intention.

    “We witnessed a situation where most of the states were bedeviled with ghost workers syndrome in spite that their resources could pay workers’ salaries.

    “Staff verification could not be authentic as most agencies alerted both their authentic and fake staff to appear during such exercises,” Nta said.

    He said that the commission, therefore, had to fall back on Bank Verification Numbers (BVN), and matched same with staff nominal list and a lot of malpractices were discovered.

    “Some of the workers were discovered to be receiving double and even triple salaries, with two or four accounts, different names in different banks and one BVN.

    “They draw salaries from all the accounts on monthly bases, as such I urge all agencies to address the issue of ghost workers with dispatch,” Nta said.

    He called on members of the National Assembly to monitor projects executed by the executive to ensure that such projects tallied with funds appropriated in the budget.

    The chairman commended Kano State Government for being the first to constitute an anti-corruption commission for the state and urged other states to do same.

    In his speech,    Bauchi State Governor, Alhaji  Mohammed Abubakar, said that in line with the anti-corruption campaign in the state, a committee was set up to recover all funds and property acquired illegally by some government officials.

    “In line with the present administration’s commitment to fight corruption in all the sectors of the economy and the civil service, the Bauchi state Government  set up a committee to recover all public funds and property acquired illegally by some persons in the past administration.

    “The committee has submitted its reports and released a white paper on the findings of the committee,’’ he said. (NAN)

  • Oyo House okays N14.16b loan to pay salaries

    Oyo House okays N14.16b loan to pay salaries

    Oyo State Government is to access N14.16 billion loan from the Federal Government for the payment of salary.

    The House of Assembly yesterday approved its request to access the loan, as contained in a letter sent by Governor Abiola Ajimobi.

    At an emergency plenary presided over by Speaker Michael Adeyemo, it was agreed that the loan, which is spread across 12 months, will enable the state to get N1.39 billion monthly for the first three months and N1.11 billion for the following nine months.

    The Speaker said the bailout fund, which would be given by the Federal Government in addition to the monthly allocation, was meant for the payment of workers’ salary.

    The letter reads: “In view of the current fiscal situation of the state and acting on the advice of the National Executive Council (NEC) to state governments and governors, the Oyo State Government is to apply for funds from the budget support facility from the Federal Ministry of Finance in the sum of N14.16 billion. The facility will be made available in three tranches of N1.39 billion for the first three months, followed by N1.11 billion for another nine months.”

    Adeyemo said it was time the state woke up and boosted its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), to prevent reliance on bailout funds and allocations from the Federal Government.

    He said the loan would also be committed to the payment of salary and pension.

    The Speaker urged the Labour movement to see the government’s move as an act of goodwill to ensure industrial harmony.

    Deputy Speaker Abdulwasi Musah and a lawmaker representing Atiba, Gbenga Oyekola, said the loan was only a short term measure, stressing the need for the state to boost its IGR.

    They advocated a review of the percentage of allocation to states and local governments, saying there was a large concentration of funds at the federal level.

    A member representing Ibadan North II, Olusegun Olaleye, who noted that the funds would be used for the payment of salaries and pensions, hoped that the present move would address the industrial crisis.

     

     

     

  • NUT frowns at exclusion from states’ bailout fund

    NUT frowns at exclusion from states’ bailout fund

    The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) yesterday kicked against exclusion of its members in the payment of salaries from the bailout funds approved by the federal government last year by some governors.

    The union, in a statement in Abuja by its Secretary General, Obong Obong, said it would reject any discrimination against any of its members from payment of salaries by some governors.

    Obong described the decision not to pay teachers’ salaries from the bailout funds by State governments as callous, adding that the union will not tolerate the gross insensitivity of State governments towards teachers’ plights.

    He asked state governments still owing teachers arrears of salaries to urgently pay up.

    The statement reads: “The Nigeria Union of Teachers wishes to express her outmost dismay over the systematic exclusion of teachers in the payment of salaries from the 2015 federal government bailout funds given to state governments.

    “The national leadership of the union strongly rejects the segregational treatment meted out to teachers by some governors in favour of other workers in their various states.”

  • Imo denies misapplying bailout fund

    Imo denies misapplying bailout fund

    •State faults ICPC’s claim

    The Imo State Government yesterday faulted the claim by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) that it misapplied the bailout funds collected from the Federal Government for the payment of workers’ salary arrears.

    The government said the bailout fund was judiciously applied for the purpose it was meant.

    ICPC, in a statement by Mustapha Hussain, on behalf of the agency’s Commissioner for Public Enlightenment, accused Imo, Benue and Enugu states of misapplying their bailout funds.

    But a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Rochas Okorocha, Mr. Sam Onwuemeodo, said: “The commission did not, however, disclose how it arrived at that conclusion but only stated that some transfers were made into certain accounts not related to salaries and emoluments including, ‘N2 billion paid into a Government Account; N2 billion paid into an Imo State Project Account and N2 billion transferred into a Microfinance Bank’.”

    The statement added: “The ICPC was right that such funds were paid into the mentioned accounts and we had expected the commission to go further to tell the public what such funds paid into those accounts were used for. The commission became stingy with facts at that point.

    “Again, before the bailout fund, were there no existing accounts the government was using to pay salaries? While giving out the bailout funds, was there any specified account that was given that the salaries must be paid from? These are questions that needed to be answered since the commission never claimed that the money was paid into private accounts or that the ones paid into the government’s accounts were used for other reasons except paying salaries.

    “From the mentioned government’s account, personnel of Imo Security Network, Imo Community Watch, Youth Must Work Teachers, Community Government Councils and Imo Civil Guards were paid their arrears last December. We stand to be contradicted on this claim.

    “From the referenced Microfinance Bank Account, Imo State University, Imo Polytechnic, Imo College of Nursing and Health Sciences Staff, and so on, collected their salaries, also in arrears last December. We also want the ICPC to prove us wrong on this claim.

    “In the case of Imo State Project Account, the truth is that the government was drawing money from the account to ensure full payment of workers’ salaries when the financial fortunes of the state began to dwindle, like most other states’. So, when the bailout fund finally came, the government had no option than to pay back the fund it had borrowed from that account.

    “And the truth of the matter became glaring when Labour in the state decided to be collecting 70 per cent of the total income of the state at the end of every month for salaries and pensions, leaving only 30 per cent for government, for capital projects; since January, they have not been able to pay workers full salary.

    “Last December, the state government paid all arrears of workers’ salaries, including workers of corporations, agencies and health outfits the government had issues to settle with and also paid pensions, which were not part of the bailout fund. We want to be faulted on all these claims.

    “When the national leadership of NLC led a protest in the state, it was not on the issue of salary but over the suspension of certain workers of corporations and agencies who remained unproductive over the years. And it was the 70 per cent to 30 per cent revenue sharing formula between the government and Labour that ended the misunderstanding, and the affected personnel were recalled.

    “As we write, the payment of the February salary has begun. Which means the state is only owing the workers the March salary, since April has not ended. Let us be proved wrong in all these. Imo State has a bloated workforce and the highest number of pensioners. Yet, it is only owing the workers the March salary since the payment for February has begun. So, in what way did the state divert or misapply the bailout fund?

    “The Imo State Government has unbridled regard and respect for agencies like ICPC because of the great service they have been rendering to this nation. Otherwise, we would have concluded that something was wrong somewhere.

    “To say the least, the Imo State Government applied the bailout fund judiciously for the purpose it was meant: the payment of salaries. We did that and also paid pensions, which were not part of the bailout fund. We stand to be contradicted. That is why the issue of salary arrears does not exist in the state at the moment.”

  • I never said FG’ll write off bailout fund —Amosun

    I never said FG’ll write off bailout fund —Amosun

    Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, has refuted claims that he said the federal government will write off the bailout fund extended to some states of the federation.

    “I was quoted out of context. I never said the federal government was going to write off the bailout fund,” the governor said.

    A statement issued by his media aide, Adejuwon Soyinka said, “Contrary to reports in some sections of the media, at no point during the opening session of the state Treasury Board meeting for the year 2016 budget held on Friday, November 20, did the governor categorically state that the federal government was going to write off the bailout debt of states.

    “What happened is that the governor, upon being briefed by the Deputy Governor, Mrs. Yetunde Onanuga, who attended the last National Economic Council (NEC) meeting held on November 19, said states of the federation spoke about challenges they were facing in meeting their obligations towards repayment of their rescheduled loans or bailout fund.

    “He said in view of this, states requested for some sort of moratorium or outright cancellation of their debts. Governor Amosun never said that the federal government has decided to write off the debt or give any sort of moratorium”.

    The governor also spoke about how Ogun State is the only state that opted for 10 year repayment plan as opposed to the 20 years that was originally proposed by the federal government.

    He assured that his administration intends to fully repay the bailout loan before the expiration of his tenure.

    In another development, the governor has notified the state House of Assembly of his readiness to present the 2016 Appropriation Bill on Tuesday.

  • Bailout fund: Labour directs Kogi’s workers to stay off work

    Public servants in Kogi State have been directed to stay off work to protest the non-release of bailout funds by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    The directive is contained in a statement issued by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) last weekend.

    The statement, signed by NLC Secretary Mr John Faniyi and his TUC counterpart, Mr Joseph Kolawole expressed dissatisfaction over the non-release of the N50.8 billion bailout fund due to the state.

    “This directive is to serve as protest against the non-release of the money,’’ the statement said.

    The unions said they were surprised by the CBN’s/Federal Government’s  silence over the matter.

    Asking workers to comply with the order, the labour unions warned commissioners, permanent secretaries, directors and other categories of senior public officers not to report for work to avoid being embarrassed.

    In a related development, the Nigerian Association of Federal Civil Servants Co-operatives is set to acquire Kogi Micro Finance Bank to drive the process of easy access to Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) N220 billion for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and to meet the specific needs of cooperative societies in Nigeria.

  • APC monitoring Ondo’s N14.6b bailout fund

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State yesterday said it was monitoring the N14.6billion bailout loan approved for the state.

    In a statement in Akure, the state capital, its Publicity Secretary, Abayomi Adesanya, said the party was also monitoring Governor Olusegun Mimiko on how he would disburse the fund.

    APC said the governor should explain to the people the rationale behind the delay in payment of salary arrears, despite the President’s good gesture.

    The statement reads:”The party has decided to closely monitor Governor Olusegun Mimiko on how effectively and promptly he will disburse the bailout fund approved for the state.

    “But to our dismay, the plea and plight of workers and pensioners alike do not make sense to the governor, almost a month after receiving the bailout fund.”

     

  • Okorocha sets up committee to manage bailout fund

    Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, yesterday set up a committee to administer the bailout fund from the Federal Government, which he said has been accessed by the state.

    Okorocha, who met with workers and leaders of the organized labour in the state, named the Accountant-General of the state, the Chief of Staff, Chief Uche Nwosu,  the Principal Secretary to the Governor, Pascal Obi and Head of Service, Callistus Ekenze, as members of the committee.

    The Governor directed the committee to ensure that all the salaries owed workers are cleared and payments are made by cheques, in line with the policy of the state government to check cases of ghost workers.

    He also directed that, apart from the arrears of salary owed the workers, the workers should also be paid for the month of September up front.

    The Governor also promised that the arrears of salaries owed parastatals will also be cleared, disclosing that he will be meeting with the labour leaders to know how to reposition the parastatals for higher productivity.

  • Bailout fund: NUT warns governors against diversion

    Bailout fund: NUT warns governors against diversion

    The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) has advised state governors to ensure that the bailout fund from the federal government is not diverted but used to pay salary arrears.

    The union expressed concern about the continuous delay in the payment of teachers’ salary by many state governments despite the intervention of President Muhammadu Buhari with the bailout fund provided to help state governments pay arrears of salaries to workers in affected states.

    The teachers among other issues urged Federal Government to intensify its efforts in the fight against the Boko Haram sect and further secure schools.