As new helmsmen prepare to take over power at the national level and across the states on May 29, they are to inherit a legion headacheas, going by recent feel¬ers. Sunday Sun opens the pandorax box of troubles.
Jigawa: Cash crunch, debts confront new governor in Jigawa
In Jigawa State, the incoming government may likely face serious challenges concern¬ing the dwindling financial allocation from the federation account as the outgoing government already incured over eight billion naira debt for the state.
The outgoing governor Alhaji Sule Lamido confirmed that the federal government owes Jiga¬wa State the sum of eleven billion naira.
According to the outgoing governor, President Jonathan’s administration promised to execute some projects in the state including the establish¬ment of International Airport.
He maintained that this agreement made the state government to use its own funds to con¬struct the Airport worth seventeen billion naira, but only six billion naira was refunded from the federal government.Lamido further explained that, the state gov¬ernment had already embarked on developmental projects like road constructions and other projects across the state but the state was yet to pay the contractors their money worth eight billion naira.
Despite these challenges, the people of the state have a higher expectations on the incoming gov-ernment under the newly elected governor Alhaji Muhammad Badaru Abubakar who emerged on the platform of APC.
Responding to Sunday Sun over the challeng¬es, the newly elected lawmaker representing Gu-mel/Gagarawa/Sule Tankarkar constituency and former Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ nation¬al Chairman Alhaji Sani Zoro said the incoming APC administration in the state must probe the outgoing government on the eight billion Naira debt.
Delta: Okowa to grapple with un¬completed projects, debts, dwindling revenue, over bloated civil service and wages
With a debt profile of about N100 billion seen as one of the lowest across the states of the federation, the in-coming adminis¬tration in Delta State will also have to contend with the issues of uncompleted ‘mega’ projects across the state and skyrocketing wage bill. The projects were designed to be major legacies of the out-going administration of Dr. Emmanuel Udu¬aghan to boost economic activities in the oil-rich state through the ‘Delta beyond Oil’ mantra. If the in-coming governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa is to sustain that vision, dwindling allocation from the federation account and the fact that the state will be in opposition to the federal government in terms of party affiliation, these will pose se¬rious challenges to their completion. Some of the mega projects include the 149km Ughelli/Asaba road dualisation, Warri industrial park, Ogwuashi-Uku wildlife park, Asaba ICT park, Asaba airport, 150 housing units, Ugbenu/Koko road dualisation and the on-going expansion work at the Osubi airport. Sunday Sun gathered that even the completed and commissioned proj¬ects like the two flyover bridges at Asaba and Ef¬furun, still need some finishing touches that will cost the state government some millions. For the uncompleted projects, several billions must be injected to have them commissioned. Besides the uncompleted mega projects there is also the issues of ever rising wage bill of civil servants and political office holders, as well as arrears of pen¬sions being owed retirees across the state. With an average monthly wage bill already hovering around N7 billion, the recent employment of ad¬ditional 2,000 staff into an already over-bloated civil service by the outgoing administration will pose financial challenges to the incoming gov¬ernment. Although, internally generated revenue of the state hovers around N7.5 billion monthly, it is a far cry from what is required to tackle the monumental challenges in areas of uncompleted mega projects, debt servicing and huge monthly wage bill. Should Okowa sustain the vision of his predecessor by embarking the completion of the economically viable projects, it may take a tenure of four-years to complete because of the dwin¬dling allocation from the federation account. In effect, Okowa might not be able initiate his own projects and programmes as encapsulated in his S.M.A.R.T agenda which the electorate bought into to vote for him on April 11 as the next gov¬ernor.
Ebonyi: Mass poverty, rise in mini¬mum wage
In Ebonyi State, Deputy Governor and Governor-Elect, Chief Dave Umahi will be sworn-in on May 29 as the Third Executive Governor of the state after Dr. Sam Egwu and Chief Martin Elechi. The challenges before the incoming governor are enormous. Ebonyi state is one of three states in the federation that receives meager federal allocation. The last allocation that accrued to the state was not up to N2 billion which is not enough to embark on any meaning¬ful project. Also, the approval of 50 percent rise in the minimum wage, a month to the expiration of Elechi’s administration will be a big problem for the incoming administration. This is because with the meager federal allocation to the state, af¬ter paying salaries of workers, there may not be enough to run the government. Another challenge facing the incoming governor is the appointment of his cabinet members. This is because there are many people in the lineup waiting and hoping to be appointed. The major stakeholders in the state who helped the governor-elect to emerge at the poll are waiting to be either appointed in one po¬sition or other; or to be compensated in another way. The squabble between the outgoing gover¬nor, Elechi and the incoming governor Umahi has been resolved following the reconciliation move that was made two days after the declaration of Umahi as the Governor-Elect. In the reconcili¬ation team were major stakeholders in the state including the former governor Dr. Sam Egwu and founding fathers. At the event, Elechi said that he had nothing against the governor-Elect but urged him to build on the bridge of human relations. The Governor-Elect, Umahi described Elechi as a strongman who made him what he is today, saying that Elechi made him party Chair¬man and later picked him as the deputy governor. He described the crisis as an evil that put discord between him and his boss.
Oyo’s financial mess threaten its soul
Oyo State governor, Senator Abiola Aji¬mobi, who has been re-elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) will have to contend with the cash crunch rocking the state. The financial mess is said to have been caused by dwindling monthly statutory alloca¬tion accruing from the Federation Account to the state. At inception of his administration in 2011, the federal allocation stood at N4.2 billion, while salary and wages summed up to N2.9bilion. The statutory allocation, as gathered, had been reduced to between N2.5 billion and about N3.2billion ev¬ery month. The salary and wages have eqaually risen to about 5billion monthly. While saying that the allocations were not being released as at when due owing to what the federal government called a fall in the price of crude oil, Ajimobi said the development had culminated in the monthly defi¬cit of about N1.8billion for the state. Checks by Sunday Sun revealed that the dwindling alloca¬tion from the Federation Account to the state has resulted into irregular payment of workers’ sala¬ries and wages by the state since October 2014. The Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the state government, which is about N1.2billion ev¬ery month, could not bail the state government out of the monthly N1.8 billion deficit or more. Dur¬ing this year’s May Day celebrations in Oyo State, the chairman of Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Mr. Waheed Olojede, said the state gov¬ernment still owed civil servant, March and April 2015 salaries. As at the time of filing this report, nothing indicated that it has been paid. Gover¬nor Ajimobi also stated at a recent forum: “Truth be told, the financial position of Oyo State as at now is not too good. But this is not peculiar to Oyo State, as other states in the federation are also experiencing serious cash crunch “You will recall that at the APC forum held in Kwara State recently, we (governors) raised the alarm over the dwindling federal allocation to states. Even some PDP (Peoples Democratic Party) governors have also cried out over their inability to meet up with their financial obligations.” “Unless the Federal Government addresses this situation with all the seriousness it deserves, most states may not be able to pay workers’ salaries, let alone carry out development programmes.” Apparently foresee¬ing the troubles ahead, Ajimobi protested before the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Committee(RMAFC) during a meeting in Abuja that the N2.3billion accruing to the state from the Federation Account was grossly inadequate for the pace setter state. The governor explained that the state has more than 2,000 schools and 35,000 teachers and it would require N4.2billion monthly to pay salaries and wages alone. He also made a case that the proposed new Revenue Al¬location Formula to be fair, just and equitable as well as people and development oriented. Politi¬cal pundits are worried how Governor Ajimobi would execute meaningful developmental proj¬ects with the dwindling federal allocation to the state and the IGR put together that could not pay workers’ salaries and wages. They urged him to create ways to boost the state’s IGR, without exploiting residents and business owners in the 33 local government areas of the state. But they are optimistic that the governor would sing a new song when the President-Elect, Gen Muham¬madu Buhari, of the APC takes over the reins of government from President Goodluck Jonathan on May 29.
Borno, Yobe face challenges of re¬building, and reconstruction
Gov Kashim Shettima of Borno and his Yobe counterpart, Ibrahim Gaidam face the biggest challenge of rebuilding communi¬ties and infrastructure destroyed in the nearly six years of Boko Haram insurgency. But unlike Borno with massive destruction of communities being the birthplace of Boko Haram, the situa¬tion in neighbouring Yobe is not as bad, analysts maintained. Shettima while answering questions from journalists on April 14 shortly after casting his vote in the governorship poll in Maiduguri, Borno capital said his greatest headache when re-elected as the sixth executive governor of the state would be sourcing for fund to rebuild all towns and villages as well as infrastructure destroyed by Boko Haram. Until late March, no fewer than 12 out of the 27 local governments in the state, were under Boko Haram control with at least 30 communities in ruins. Gwoza, located in the South-east of Maiduguri where the insurgents declared Islamic Caliphate has been destroyed, while electricity, water, hospitals and public building in central towns of Bama, Gamboru Ngala and southern town of Damboa have either been bombed or pulled down by the insurgents. Borno is ranked among states with low monthly allocation from the Federation ac-count. Sadly, the increasing violence and inse¬curity have also affected its economic activities and subsequently brought down its Internally Generated Revenue. State Revenue Board told Sunday Sun. It is unclear how the returning Gov¬ernor Shettima intends to finance his ambitious rebuilding and reconstruction programme in the post-insurgency era in Borno. Governor Gaidam has already taken the first measure of addressing the challenges ahead by slashing the 2015 budget size to N80.6 billion, about 22 percent decrease from the 2014 budget. He tagged the 2015 fiscal allocation as Budget of Consolidation and Conti¬nuity, but not many government officials are sure how the governor intends to match his campaign promises with the reality of inadequate funds to actually continue infrastructural development which he started in his first term.
Only IGR may save Ondo from bank¬ruptcy
The present administration of Governor Olusegun Mimiko in Ondo State may be confronted with financial problems on as¬sumption of office of the President-elect; General Muhamadu Buhari.The state is currently going through serious financial crises occasioned by the dwindling allocation from the Federal Govern¬ment. The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP led government of Mimiko may not find things easy when the All Progressives Congress (APC) takes over the reins of government at the centre going by feelers within the state. The state which is part of the Niger Delta states is currently favoured in the allocation table of the Federal Government, but there are indications that Buhari may recon¬sider the table and take an unfavorable decision against the state by slashing down the allocation accruing to it. However, the state government ap¬pears to have prepared for any eventuality on the allocation system as the current dwindling alloca¬tion has made the state government to improve on the internally Generated Revenue (IGR). The state Commissioner for Information, Mr Kayode Akinmade told Sunday Sun that the state gov¬ernment had done everything to avoid leakages and would not experience any problem through¬out its remaining two years tenure. According to him “the IGR of the state which was #300 Million before, is now #800million, and we are working to ensure that it increases to #1Billion before the end of this year. This will help us to do a lot of things even if the dwindling alloca¬tion continues.” “In Ondo state, we cut our coat according to our available clothes, so we cannot experience any problem. We have been coping since the dwindling allocation started, and with the strategy we have adopted, we shall continue to cope well. We are not looking outward but as a state, we are looking inward and this is really helpful to us,” he stated. The Commissioner add¬ed that “we shall continue to sensitize our peo¬ple on the need to support the state government by regular and prompt payment of their taxes. We shall also channel the available resources to¬wards the youths to avoid wastage.” Akinmade posited that the state could not experience any problem with the dwindling allocation; just as he insisted that the Mimiko led government would continue to serve the people with the limited re¬sources available to it even after Buhari takes over the government at the centre.
Bauchi: Debts, educational decay, non- access to potable drinking water are landmines for Abubakar
When Bauchi State governor- elect Bar¬rister Mohammed Abdulahi Abubakar, elected on the platform of the All Progressive Congress (APC) is sworn-in on May 29, 2015, he will meet myriads of problems that will have huge implication on his administration. Besides coming in at a time when most states are find¬ing it difficult to survive, Abubakar’s situation is particularly challenging considering the fact that Bauchi is one of the states that depend mainly on revenue allocation from the federation account to survive. The incoming administration is coming to meet debts-both foreign and domestic. Checks at the Bauchi State Debt Management office is about N17 billion foreign debt, minus internal debt. These will most likely impact on the ad¬ministration in terms of servicing the debts. The outgoing administration has had to grapple with payment of salaries, including the unpopular slashing of civil servants salaries to fund some projects. Among the debts owned is over N11 billion naira pension and gratuity of workers. The APC also has cause to raise alarm about loans being owed the state government estimated at over N10 billion, which means the state gov-ernment is indebted to about N30 billion. In the area of education, the issue of decay of most rural primary schools in the state is also of concern. In most schools across the states, both in primary and post-primary schools, pupils and students are still studying sitting on bare floors. In Second¬ary school in Guru Village, no fewer than 2000 students are sharing two blocks of classrooms. Many of the secondary schools in the state were those built by the Tatari Ali administration in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The outgoing admin¬istration started renovating some but many are left in their decaying predicament. Over 50 per cent of them have not been renovated. Many of such schools that the outgoing administration of Mallam Isa Yuguda of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) did not address abound across the state. This has huge challenges for the in-coming administration in terms of making them con¬ducive for learning and teaching. In the area of water supply, Governor Isa Yuguda himself once admitted that the Gubi Dam which supplies water to Bauchi Metropolis residents is at the verge of bursting any time from now and over 50 million dollars is required to address the problem. The situation is so bad that water supply especially in Bauchi Metropolis in the past few years is al¬most nil. Apart from boreholes that were being constructed here and there, of which most have broken down, most people on the outskirts of the state, and rural communities in most of the 20 Lo¬cal Government Areas drink water from the same source with animals. For instance, people of Guru Village lamented sometimes ago that they drank water from the same stream with their animals as there were no boreholes. In the area of health care, although Yuguda’s administration had built several hospitals and primary healthcare centers across the state, Sunday Sun learnt that lack of equipment and personnel in most of these hospi¬tals and health facilities were rampant, with huge consequences on the common man.
The state is also having problems of short¬age of doctors. The incoming administration of Abubakar would experience crisis in the health sector when it assumes office on May 29, 2015.
Taraba mortgaged for 7 years as in¬security festers
The incoming administration of Arch. Dar¬ius Dickson Ishaku will have two major challenges; insecurity and huge debt profile to contend with after the May 29th 2015 inaugu¬ration. On security, the previous administrations in the state left the issue unattended to which had also made it to. Security-wise, there is no part of the state that could be said to be completely safe or secured as reports of attacks and coun¬ter- attacks have become daily occurrences. For example, the Wukari carnage with a devastating impact on the whole local government, the kutebs and Tiv`s skirmishes in Takum , the Tella uprising in Gassol local government. and the recent kill¬ings of some soldiers which later led to a reprisal attacks by the Military in Karim-Lamido Local Government , loss of several lives in Yangtu De¬velopment Council Area due to a sudden attack ,all point to the fact that the state is sitting on a keg of gun-powder, and that Arch. Ishaku has a lot to do. Providing an insight into the true po¬sition of things concerning the state`s financial status recently in Jalingo, the commissioner of fi¬nance, Emmanuel Gowon told journalists that the state was indebted to the tune of N20bn. While lamenting a drop in the federal allocation to the state which now fluctuates between N3.5 bn. and N30bn, the commissioner further disclosed that the state now bears the burden of a monthly salary bill of N1.8bn,coupled with the recently sourced additional N30bn medium term loan . “the N20bn. debt is constructed in such a way that, the payment will be for 7 years with N390 million per month” Gowon stated. This statement is a clear pointer to the fact that the incoming ad¬ministration of Darius Ishaku, is in for trouble of loan repayment.
Arrears of salaries, chieftaincy tus¬sles pose challenges in Benue
One of the biggest challenges the incoming administration of the Governor-elect in Benue state, Dr. Samuel Ortom will face is the issue of non- payment of salaries, pensions and gratuities to civil servants in the state. As it is now, workers in the state have been owed salaries for over four months. Also, the issue of the appoint¬ment of 10 new first class chiefs in the state is posing another great challenge to the incoming government. The Minority Leader of the state House of Assembly has approached the court to obtain an order restraining the Suswam led gov¬ernment and the Tiv Traditional Council from go¬ing ahead with the appointment since according to him, it would take a negative toll on the purse of the government. Another challenge is the issue of secret employments going on in the state civil service as alleged by the incoming government. Ortom, at a press conference recently said he got information that the outgoing government was secretly employing new persons into the state civil service while also promoting some persons from one grade level to another. If the outgoing government succeeds in these three areas, the in¬coming administration would have a huge prob¬lem running the affairs of the state.
Rivers: Wike faces political, econom¬ic problems
Rivers State Governor-elect, Chief Nyesom Wike, would be confronted with serious problems when he is sworn-in on May 29, 2015, to redeem the image of the state that was battered by years of political battle for supremacy between the outgoing Governor Chibuike Amaechi and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The fact is that the political crisis in the state is not yet over. As Wike assumes power in the state, much dis¬traction would come from the opposition party, All Progressives Congress (APC), which has vowed to challenge the outcome of the 2015 gen¬eral elections in the state, including gubernatorial poll, at the election petition tribunal. The APC has for the umpteenth time stated that there were no elections in the state, and, therefore, would not accept or recognize Wike as governor. The un¬healthy political environment in the state that has existed for over two years would cause delay in settling down to work. Another issue that would cause disharmony and distraction to Wike’s gov¬ernment is the planned Local Government elec¬tion, which the state has slated for May 23, just six days to handover to a new administration. The PDP had stated that it would not take part in the election. Already, the PDP, hasd gone to court to stop Amaechi and the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) from conduct¬ing the LG election. Also, Amaechi and RSIEC have taken the matter to the Court of Appeal. While the lower court had advised all parties to maintain status quo pending the decision of the Appeal Court, the APC, on Tuesday, May 5, con¬ducted its LG primaries. So, if the court rules in favour of Amaechi, what it means is that, Wike is going to have a spill-over political battle with the opposition chairmen. It is likely the governor-elect would not work smoothly with the chairmen Governor Amaechi would put in place. Another serious challenge that would confront the gover¬nor-elect is the backlog of workers’ salaries. The outgoing administration has not paid the state civil servants’ two months salary arrears (March and April) and pensioners’ four months arrears. On Tuesday, May 5, other categories of people protested in Port Harcourt over non-payment of salaries for months. But this allegation was swiftly dismissed by the Commissioner for Infor¬mation and Communications, Mrs. Ibim Semeni¬tari who stated that only two months of salaries were owed. Also, there would be the challenge of what prioritization of projects to face, which to execute, which to keep in view, and which to totally abandon or reject. Some projects might be white elephants, but capable of enriching person¬al pockets. So, the will to leave out such projects would be tested.
Abia: Infrastructural decay, empty treasury, backlog of workers’ salaries may shock Ikpeazu
As the May 29 hand over date approaches, in Abia State, touted as God’s Own, it is not going to be a tea party for the Governor-elect of the state, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu going by the enor¬mous problems he is going to face. The problems that would confront the new administration of Dr. Ikpeazu would come from all fronts, from infrastructural decay to non payment of workers salaries. Abia, particularly its commercial nerve centre of Aba, has the worst networks of roads in the country. This is to the point that the in-coming administration may not know where to start from. Added to this debilitating problem, is the issue of refuse that has earned the state the uncompli¬mentary name of the “stinking state” of Nigeria. This problem is widening by the day and those involved appear not to have any solution to it yet. Apart from the twin problem of infrastructural decay and refuse the reprehensible arrears of sala¬ries (some running into nine months as in the case of health workers) and payment of pensioners’ entitlements over the years will pose a frightening challenge to the new government. Added to the above are the issues of multiple taxes, and the use of touts and thugs to collect revenue which sever¬ally pitched the out-going administration against residents of the state. This, coupled with lack of infrastructural development brought the present government in the state into public odium. There is an unconfirmed report that the out-going gov¬ernment may be leaving behind as it winds up on May 29, huge debt profile. If this happens, with the dwindling allocation to the states by the fed¬eral government as a result of fall in oil revenue, the in-coming government may find it difficult to meet its obligations to the people.
Imo: Okorocha sits on a precarious financial base
The current administration in the state is not transiting as the incumbent governor Anayo Rochas Okorocha was re- elected on April 25 after the gubernatorial supplementary election and so will still be piloting the affairs of the state for another four years. While he will not be in¬heriting the financial liabilities of an outgoing government, the issue of meagre resources has continued to be a major problem for the governor as most of the capital projects undertaken by his Rescue Mission Administration have been stalled because of paucity of funds. For instance, the new 27 General Hospitals he started are not yet com¬pleted several years after it was begun. Okoro¬cha has lamented severally that the state is in a financial dire strait as the state receives just about N3.1 Billion from the federation account. The fi¬nancial status of the state is further compounded by its wholly civil servant status with over 80 per cent of the state revenue being expended on re¬current expenditure. And this precarious financial state of affairs may worsen with the dwindling oil revenue accruing to the state from its federation account. Before the advent of the Okorocha’s administration, the state’s Internally Generated Revenue was hovering between N150 and 200 Million monthly, but even with the improve¬ment in the IGR which is now about N430 mil¬lion monthly, the state more or less is running a deficit because it has no industrial base as most of the state owned industries established by the late Sam Mbakwe, former governor of Old Imo State are lying comatose. During the last Labour day celebration, the state chairman of the Nige¬ria Labour Congress, comrade Austin Chilakpu reminded the governor that he was yet to fulfill his promise of paying the accumulated arrears of the N20,000 minimum wage since 2011 to civil servants. Comrade Chilakpu also noted that local government pensioners were owed six months arrears while the workers of the Imo state owned Newspapers (Nigerian Statesman) are owed 17 months of salary arrears. This is just as the NLC state chairman has decried the irregular payment of salaries of civil servants in the state. However, governor Okorocha has stated that salaries of civil servants in the state is N995 million monthly. Ac¬cording to him the Imo State Hospital Manage¬ment Board gets N133 million, Secondary Edu¬cation management board (N560) million, Imo state university teaching hospital is gets (N297m), Imo State Polytechnic (N122) million while the parastatals get N560 million. Governor Okorocha equally revealed that the wage bill of the staff of both the Governor and the Deputy Governor’s office stands at N86 Million monthly. Just last week, the Members of the Imo state House of Assembly, in its resumed plenary, unanimously approved a re-ordered supplementary budget of twenty three billion, seven hundred and fifty-two million, six hundred and ten thousand, Five Hun¬dred fifty seven naira (N23,752,610,557) for the year ended 2014 .This was apparently to enable the state government to meet its financial obliga¬tions especially to contractors who are still being owed for contracts executed for the government over three years ago.
Kwara: Lean finances trouble Ahmed
As the May 29 swearing in of new adminis¬trations both at national and states get clos¬er, there are palpable fears on how the administra¬tion will fare in the new dispensation as a result of dwindling resources of government. Mostly hit are the states and local government areas who rely mostly on federal allocation before they can do anything. In Kwara State, Governor Abdulfa¬tah Ahmed was elected in 2011 for the first tenure and was re-elected for a second term last month. Ahmed’s developmental stride was among the major reason he is loved by the people of the state. This was attested to by the Deputy Speaker of Kwara State House of Assembly and Barris¬ter Abdullateef Okandeji chairman, Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, ALGON and also that of Ilorin East Local Government respec¬tively. Prior to this time the state had witnessed a lot of hardships based on the reduction in the state allocation. This situation became manifest with the state belonging to the opposition, and sec¬ondly the federal reserves was going down which affects the states too. Hence some of the laudable projects embarked upon by the government was either stalled or slowed down as the government could not meet its obligations to the contractors. This made the government to prioritize its activi¬ties and with the Governor’s background in the financial sector he has to use his prowess to forge ahead. This is seen in the prompt payment of civil servants salaries and other things. However sensing the danger ahead, Governor Ahmed in a recent gathering said the state has to prepare to face the challenges and come up with measures that will reduce the state’s reliance on federal al¬location. Amongst solutions to stem this is the es-tablishment of an Internally Generated Revenue Agency. This agency, according to him will drive improved Internally Generated Revenue created in the face of consistent slide in the state and local government shares from the federation account. He said the bill will be submitted to the state leg-islature for the establishment of the agency. Ac¬cording to the Governor, “ a new leap that will set up a new internally generated revenue platform is being put in place.” The institution will be charged with the responsibility of making inde¬pendent of any Ministry, to drive the state revenue to set targets. He asked the local councils in the state to key into the initiative as a way of boost¬ing their IGR to meet their developmental needs, adding that it is when their revenue increased that they can approach either the money market or Capital markets for support through various win¬dows of funding.
Insecurity, huge debts trail Ishaku in Taraba
The incoming administration of the Taraba state governor-elect, Arch.Darius Dickson Ishaku will have two major challenges; insecurity and the state`s huge debt profile to contend with after the May 29th 2015 inauguration. On secu¬rity, it appears that previous administrations in the state appeared have left the issue unattended to which had also made it to have degenerated into an unmanageable degree. Security-wise, there is no part of the state that could be said to be com-pletely safe or secured as reports of attacks and counter- attacks have become daily occurrences. For example, the Wukari carnage with a devastat¬ing impact on the whole local govt., the kutebs and Tiv`s skirmishes in Takum , the Tella upris¬ing in Gassol local govt. and the recent killings of some soldiers which later led to a reprisal attacks by the Military in Karim -lamido Local Govern¬ment , loss of several lives in Yangtu Develop¬ment Area due to a sudden attack, all point to the fact that the state is sitting on a keg of gun-pow¬der, and that Arch. Ishaku has a lot to do. Pro¬viding an insight into the true position of things concerning the state`s financial status recently in Jalingo, the commissioner of finance, Emmanuel Gowon told journalists that the state was indebted to the tune of N20bn. While lamenting drop in the federal allocation to the state which now fluc¬tuates between N3.5 bn. and N3bn, the commis¬sioner further disclosed that the state now bears burden of monthly salary bill of N1.8bn,coupled with the recently sourced additional N30bn me¬dium term loan. “The N20bn. debt is constructed in such a way that, the payment will be for 7 years with N390 million per month” Gowon stated. This is a clear pointer to the fact that the incom¬ing administration of the governor-elect, Darius Ishaku is in for trouble of loan repayment
Kano: Kwankwaso’s ghost haunts Gamduje
On May 29, 2015, a new governor of Kano State, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Gamduje would be sworn into office. One of the major challenges that would confront the new governor, on inception, is the huge influence of his prede¬cessor, who in the past few years, had presided over the politics of the state like a colossus. It is a known fact that Engineer Kwankwaso controls the entire party structure of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in the state. He is also largely re¬sponsible for the choice of almost all the political office holders in the state today through the in¬strumentality of his Kwaankwssiyya Movement. Doubtlessly, he still enjoys a lot of respect among his party members in the state and might want to throw his weight around way beyond the expira¬tion of his tenure. It is not exactly clear how the new governor intends to respond to this political challenge but definitely, there are fears that Dr. Ganduje may not commit himself to a shadow role for too long. Pundits predict that at some point in the life of the new administration, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje may come out of his shadows and take full charge of the state.
In addition to this, the incoming governor of Kano State would inherit a number of on-going projects in the state . Some of the capital projects, embarked upon by the administration, would not be completed by May 29th for one reason or the other. Remarkably, while many of these projects were awarded long ago, some were however awarded in the twilight of the present administra¬tion.
Experts, therefore, predict that the in -coming administration would spend a few months of its own lifespan attending to the challenges of capital projects started by its predecessor. Similarly, some of the payments in respect of these outstanding projects would be transferred to the accounts of the new administration at the end of May 29.th. The Governor elect, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Gan¬duje is part of the out- going administration and is well aware of these on -going projects. He was quoted recently as saying that he would continue and complete the projects started by the Kwank¬waso administration. WAGE BILL Some of the policies and programmes of the Kwankwaso ad¬ministration are popular, but equally exerts a cost pressure on the pulse of the state. For example, during the life of the administration, several new job opportunities were created in the public sec¬tor of the state, thus increasing the monthly wage bill of the state government. Also, thousands of indigenes from the state are currently undergoing post graduate studies abroad, apart from those on the state government’s scholarship to universities and tertiary institutions within Nigeria. With the dwindling resources from the Federation Ac¬count, there are fears that the in- coming gov¬ernment would need to redouble its income and revenue sources to be able to settle the bills in the years to come.
Plateau: Grim economy, outstanding salaries may choke
Plateau State in coming governor, Barrister Simon Lalong of the All Progressive Congress (APC) will be faced with a lot of problems at inception which would make it quite difficult for him to start initiating new programmes. Against the dwindling revenue, he would have to settle all outstanding salaries. Salaries owed workers are between eight, six to four months depending on which ministry they are attached. Already the staff had embarked on strike since Monday May 4, to press for the payment of their salaries and this is likely to go on until the new government comes on board. The governor will also have to settle six months pension allowance to pensioners in the state. Even though the Jang administration had promised not to leave uncompleted projects, but from all indications it will have to leave some to be completed by the incoming administration. The most important of them is the multi- million naira flyover by the secretariat junction and the one to connect abattoir road with the Yakubu Go¬won Way. There are also some road projects that are supposed to have started and be completed by the present administration which have been on hold.
Cross River: The challenge of debts and backlog of salaries
As the Governor-elect, Prof. Ben Ayade, prepares to take over the mantle of leader¬ship of Cross River State on May 29, debt burden and backlog of salaries have been identified as the greatest challenges facing his administration.
Investigations by Sunday Sun revealed that the state debt profile is about N124 billion, just as the state ranks amongst the first five in the nations domestic debt of about N1.4trillion. These debts, it was learnt, are accumulated debts from previ¬ous administrations which have slowed down the pace of development in the state.
Besides, sources close to state’s ministry of finance told Sunday Sun that the inability of Gov¬ernor Liyel Imoke-led administration to reduce the debt profile was as a result of the loss of 76 oil wells to Akwa Ibom state and the dwindling revenue from the federation account.
Another challenge facing the in-coming ad¬ministration is the backlog of arrears of salaries owed workers and pensioners. But if the in¬cumbent Governor Imoke’s promise to clear all arrears before leaving office is fulfilled, then it would have reduced the financial burden of the state. Further investigations revealed that the state owes civil servants two months arrears. It was also learnt that a good number of pensioners are owed backlog of up to nine months while their gratuity have not been paid to new retirees due to paucity of funds. Another challenge facing the incoming government is the provision of social amenities and social services. For instance, it has become increasingly difficult for the state govern¬ment to meet up with their financial commitment in the area of streets lighting, maintain the clean and green environment as well as evacuation of refuse within Calabar metropolis. Sources close to the Ministry of environment told SUNDAY SUN that the state government is indebted to contractors to the tune of several hundreds of mil¬lions of naira.
Sokoto: Uncompleted projects, lean treasury confront Tambuwal
In Sokoto State, the incoming administra¬tion of Alhaji Aminu Waziri Tambuwal has promised to consolidate on the achievements recorded by the outgoing government of Alhaji Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko.
He listed sectors such as education, youth and women empowerment, agriculture and health, among others to be accorded utmost priority when he assumes office. However, pundits have raised concern over Tambuwal’s commitment to complement his predecessor’s style of gover¬nance who had laid more emphasis on pro-poor programmes rather than the execution of more infrastructural and developmental projects in the state.
They cited many multi-billion naira capital projects across the state that are yet-to-be com¬pleted by the outgoing governor as one of the many herculean tasks before Tambuwal’s new administration. Also, Sokoto is one of the many northern states that wholly depend on the alloca¬tion accruing from the federal government purse without a vibrant Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) system to back it up. Also, the outgoing governor recently sought and secured a loan to the tune of N2.6 billion in one of the commercial banks. The loan was necessitated by the recent dwindling economy currently hitting harder on the state.
According to a statement released by the Governor’s Senior Special Assistant on Media, Mallam Sani Umar stated that the money would enable outgoing government fund some capital projects before the expiration of its tenure on May 29. By implication, both the loan and some yet-to-be completed projects scattered across the 23 Local Government Areas would be yearning for Tambuwal’s attention whsworn-in as the state 6th civilian Governor. Notably, the incoming govern-ment would also be struggling to depart from his predecessor’s style of governance which had laid more emphasis on more social and welfare pack¬ages for its citizenry, rather than the conventional method of providing infrastructure and building manpower.
-Sun