Survey Shows 68% of States Heed To FG’s Advice On Paris Club Refund

Majority of the state across the federation, have utilised the second tranche of the Paris Club refund they received to clear the arrears of their serving and retired workers’ entitlements.

A survey carried out by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) indicated that 68% of State governments adhered to the advice given the Federal Government on the fund.
The survey also indicated that some of the workers and pensioners were owed salaries and pensions for periods ranging between two and 11 months.
However, in most states where the arrears of salaries, pensions and gratuities have been paid, some civil servants and retirees, especially those in the council areas, are still being owed.
The Federal Government in July released about N243.79 billion to the states as the second tranche of the refund, having earlier released N388.30 billion to them in December 2016.
The funds were released following protests by the states against over-deductions from their allocations for external debt services between 1995 and 2002.
The federal government had advised the state governments to use between 50 and 75 per cent of their shares of the refund to clear the arrears of salaries, pensions and gratuities they owed.
NAN reports that 15 of the 22 (68 per cent) states surveyed so far, have utilised the money in settling the arrears of the entitlements while nine have not.
Those that paid are: Jigawa, Yobe and Adamawa in the North-East; Kwara in the North-Central; all states in the South-South except Cross River; Abia in the South-East; and all states in the South-West.
Bauchi, Gombe and Borno in the North-East; Cross River in the South-South; as well as Enugu, Anambra and Ebonyi in the South-East have yet to pay the arrears.