by Kolapo Olapoju

At the moment, there’s an unnecessary buck passing game between the FG and the state governors as to who should be blamed for the unpaid remuneration of workers.

The state governors (especially those from the All Progressives Congress) are using the 50% drop in gross in federal revenue, which affected their monthly allocations from the Federation Account,- as a crutch for their inability to pay the salaries.

“One of the issues that became of concern to all of us is the state of the Nigerian economy which is really in a bad shape.

“We have come to notify the incoming president of the challenges ahead of him. As it stands today, most states of the federation have not been able to pay salaries and even the Federal Government has not paid April salaries and that is very worrisome, by May and June, that (salaries) will be in cumulative of three months.

“We wonder with the huge expectation of Nigerians and people who have voted us into power, we are hoping that the president-elect will do everything humanly possible to bring about a bailout not only for the states but the Federal Government, at least for people to get their salaries and turn around the economy.”

The FG on the other hand, claims to have forewarned the governors about the drop in revenue, and that salaries’ payment should be first attended to, out of whatever sum they receive from the Federation Account.

According to Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala,the refusal of the governors to make the issue of workers’ salaries a top priority is responsible for the present predicament.

She also clarified that as opposed to what the governors are saying, Federal workers are not being owed salary arrears.

“This is to clarify the misinformation put forward by certain governors to the effect that Federal workers are being owed salaries. This is incorrect. Staff salaries at the Federal level are up-to-date; workers have received their April salaries.”

“Regarding difficulties in salary payments, certain governors are trying to blame the Federal Government for their predicament. This is wrong. They had been told through the FAAC to prioritise salaries but they chose not to do so, hence the backlog that some states are experiencing.”

“The 50 per cent drop in revenues simply means that salaries should be prioritised. The Federal Government should not be blamed for avoidable mistakes made at the state level.”

The oft-ineffective National Labour congress has also insisted that state governors must pay outstanding salaries before the May 29.

Here’s the bottom line: There’s no way state governors would be able to pay the salaries of their workers before handover date of May 29, unless they get the funds from the Federal Government.

The blame however, falls on the laps of the governors, if indeed they were advised Federation Accounts Allocation Committee to make the issue of wage a priority.

They should shoulder the blame BUT the FG should be the bigger party in this matter and help with the interjection of funds, so as to save the workers who are in dire straits.