Bailout: We are monitoring govs —CBN

 

I won’t divert the money, Fayose assures Ekiti workers

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has disclosed that it is monitoring how governors who have collected bailout to pay their workers are applying the money.
The Director of Corporate Communications of the CBN, Ibrahim Muazu told the Saturday Tribune on Friday that the apex bank would not allow any governor to divert the funds for other uses apart from the payment of workers salaries.

There has been unease in some states where the governors did not commence immediate payment of the salaries after collecting the money.
A breakdown of the loans is as follows: Abia - N14.152bn; Adamawa - N2.378bn; Bauchi - N8.60bn; Bayelsa - N1.285bn; Benue - N28.013bn; Borno - N7.680bn; Cross River - N7.856bn; Delta - N10.036bn; Ebonyi - N4.063bn; Edo - N3.167bn; Ekiti - N9.604bn; Enugu - N4.207bn; Gombe - N16.459bn; Imo - N26.806bn; Katsina - N3.304bn; Kebbi - N0.690bn; Kogi - N50.842bn; Kwara - N4.320bn; Nasarawa - N8.317bn; Niger - N4.306bn; Ogun - N20.0bn; Ondo - N14.686bn; Osun - N34.988bn; Oyo - N26.606bn; Plateau - N5.357bn; Sokoto - N10.093bn and Zamfara - N10.020bn.
“Right from the onset, the CBN has put in place a monitoring mechanism to prevent the diversion of the bailout funds. The money given out is not a block thing. It is designed for a specific purpose, which is for the payment of salaries. The money is paid directly into the salary accounts (of the states). If a governor refuses to use the money for the designated purpose, the workers will resort to litigation, the CBN will hear this and we will take appropriate action,” he told Saturday Tribune.
On whether the CBN waived some of the conditions for the states to access the funds, particularly submission of their respective State Executive Council resolutions when many of the states are yet to appoint commissioners, the CBN spokesman explained that the conditions were set to ensure the funds were not misappropriated.
“There is nothing like waiver. Is the government not in place? President Muhammadu Buhari is yet to appoint ministers,  is the government not working? Once the permanent secretaries are in place, there is nothing serious. It is the same thing with the states, the whole essence of placing any form of barrier (conditionalities) is to ensure the safety of the funds. The money is to ameliorate the financial crunch in the state, so the issue of waiver does  not come in,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, Ekiti State governor, Mr Ayo Fayose, has distanced himself from the allegation that some state governors are planning  to divert the bailout funds being given to some states to offset arrears of unpaid salaries and pensions.
The governor said as a lover of workers and firm believer in the biblical injunction that a labourer is worth his wages, he will never contemplate punishing workers.
In a statement in Ado-Ekiti on Friday by his Chief Press Secretary, Idowu Adelusi, the governor said the funds would be judiciously used for the purposes intended.
The governor spoke at a lecture organised as part of activities marking this year’s Civil Service Week.
Fayose, who explained to workers that the government had met all requirements for the fund, stated that he had yet to receive the fund, adding that the workers would be paid immediately the funds reach the government account.
He added that he would not pursue developmental projects at the detriment of the growth of workers’ “stomach infrastructure.”
“At the last meeting I held with all of you in this hall, you asked me to go ahead and get the bailout fund. I’ve gone ahead, I’ve signed. I am waiting for the money and as soon as the money comes, I will pay. I am not going to be among the governors that will divert the bailout. I want the stomach infrastructure inside you to grow,” Fayose said.
The governor said the various borrowings obtained by the previous administrations and the bailout fund would have impact on the income of the state when the deductions are made.
He, however, said that regardless of the impact that the borrowings would have on the state income, he would not mind making sacrifices that would ensure the comfort of the state workforce.
He reminded the workers that in spite of the lean purse of the state, he had been paying workers’ salaries regularly since he assumed office last October.