President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday approved multiple intervention packages totalling N1.2 trillion to help bankrupt states pay workers owed for several months.
At least 12 of the 36 states of the federation are believed to be owning their workers over N110 billion in salaries and allowances, with the worst hit being Osun, Rivers, Oyo, Ekiti, Kwara, Kogi, Ondo, Plateau, Benue, and Bauchi states.
However, government sources said Monday that the Finance Ministry and the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN have pegged the amount needed to settle all the outstanding public workers’ pay at about N250 billion, with the differential being for the federal workers who are also owed for months.
Buhari approved first, the sharing between the federal and 36 states governments, of $1.7billion of the $2billion balance in the Excess Crude Account.
After the amount — which is about N402 billion — is shared, there will be just about $.3billion remaining in the account which was created to help the two tiers of government save for raining days.
The president had recently raised a committee to explore the possibility of sharing revenue from the account after state governments approached him for bailout.
Besides the Excess Crude Account, government sources also said that the president approved another three-pronged relief package to end workers’ plight.
First, the federal and state governments will share another $2.1 billion (about N497 billion) sourced from recent Liquefied Natural Gas, LNG proceeds to the federation account.
Besides, the president was also said to have directed the Central Bank to prepare a special intervention fund that will offer financing to the states.
The package, it was learnt, is between N250 billion and N300 billion and will serve as a soft loan available to states to access to defray backlog of salaries.
The third package believed to have been approved by the president, is a debt relief programme designed by the Debt Management Office, DMO, which will help states restructure their commercial loans currently put at over N660 billion, and extend the life span of such loans while reducing their debt-servicing expenditures.
The third option is expected to free up more money currently being used for debt servicing, with the believe that the federal government will sway its financial muscle to guarantee the elongation of the loans in the benefit of the states.
The options were considered at the National Economic Council, NEC, last week designed specifically for workers, with the second option, involving the Central Bank, being part of a slew of quick interventions recommended by the Ahmed Joda transition committee.
The Special Adviser to the president on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, confirmed on Monday night that a special package was on the way for the workers.
Adesina said the president was deeply concerned about the plight of the workers who have been unpaid for long months.
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