Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi
As organised labour in the country joins
its counterparts around the world to celebrate this year’s May Day, the
Bauchi State government has disclosed that it inherited the sum of
N14.5 billion outstanding gratuities from the previous administration.
The state Governor, Mohammed Abubakar, who stated this
during the celebration of workers day at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa
Stadium in Bauchi, said that the issue of outstanding gratuities was a
nationwide problem and not only perculiar to Bauchi State.
The governor said that his
administration was passionate about the settlement of outstanding
gratuities, adding that the federal government through the debt
management office was going to issue loans to states in order for them
to settle all outstanding gratuities.
He debunked the allegation that his
administration diverted the Paris Club Fund given by the federal
government to states, saying that his government used 85 per cent of the
fund to settle the outstanding salaries of workers in the state and
local government.
“When I got the Paris Club Fund for the
state, I called the local government chairmen and informed them about
it. I then used the sharing formula I got from the federal ministry of
finance and gave the local government 42% while state got 58%,” he said.