President Muhammadu Buhari has appealed to governors to pay salaries and pensions owed in their states.

The president met with members of the national council of traditional rulers on Monday led by the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar and, he decried the way the Paris Club refund was spent by some state governors.

The federal government had on May 4 released details of the second tranche of Paris Club refund to states totalling N243.795 billion.

Buhari was not happy with state governments inability to pay the retirement benefits and outstanding salaries of workers with the payment of the refund.

He said, “We have to digress this much because I would like to convince you that I’m living with the problems of this country day-by-day, and mostly those of the ordinary people.

“There are Nigerians that haven’t been paid for six months; there are Nigerians that have not been paid their retirement benefits for years.

“I’m appealing to the governors, (that was why we voted money, we borrowed money), please make sure anybody under you, pay them because most of them depend on that salary to pay rent, school fees.”