Niger Borrows N400m Monthly To Pay Salaries

The Governor of Niger State, Abubakar Sani Bello, has disclosed that the state borrows N400m every month to augment the payment of workers’ salaries because the state’s monthly allocation from the Federation Account is not enough to pay public servants monthly wage.

He said, “Last month, we borrowed to complete the salaries. This month will be worse and next month will be the worst. We have been borrowing about N400m to augment workers’ salary payments. Workers should please endure with the government, for in no distance time, things will change for the better.”

He blamed the mistakes of the past government and dwindling revenue from crude oil sales as some of the reasons for the current financial stress the state and the country in general had been passing through.

“We have seen the era when the price of crude oil rose to $140 per barrel but what we have now is a situation where the entire revenue accruing to the state goes straight to civil servants’ salaries.

“The entire population of civil servants in Niger State is not less than 30,000, and the allocation from the federal sources to us is for over four million people and it is being distributed to only the workers. This is a very serious situation and this means that there will be no developmental projects in the state.”

However, he urged the workers to tighten up their belts for the hard times ahead and promised to do the best for the people no matter the financial challenges facing the state.

He pleaded with the workers and the state’s citizens to be patient with the government, adding that they should support him in rebuilding the state.