Why states can’t pay workers’ salaries

Huge expenditures on capital projects and sundry overhead have been identified as part of the reasons many state governments in Nigeria are unable to pay their workers’ salaries for many months now, Vanguard investigations have revealed.
About 18 state governments in the country currently owe their workers salaries for periods ranging from two to 11 months as at the end of May, 2015.
States and indebtedness
Some of the effected states include Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Benue, Cross River, Ekiti, Imo, Katsina, Kogi, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers and Zamfara.
Vanguard also gathered that the states have mortgaged their federation account allocations to contractors executing various capital projects by signing irrevocable payment orders with various banks. As a result, payments to contractors and other debt instruments are deducted at source and have become first line charge on their lean resources.

WHY AREGBESOLA CAN’T PAY WORKERS’ SALARIES – BABATOPE

Osun state governor, Rauf Aregbesola, cannot pay the salary of workers in the state due to the huge amount of money he spent to prosecute his re-election, former Minister of Transport, Chief Ebenezer Babatope, has said.
Babatope, a member of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who disclosed this in a chat with Daily Independent on Sunday, said Aregbesola borrowed a lot of money to fund his re-election and he is now trying to pay back the loan, hence his inability to pay salaries of workers.
He added that he had predicted in an interview he granted shortly after the Osun governorship election that Aregbesola overspent money during the election and that this will have terrible effect on the economy of Osun state.
Go and check the newspapers precisely Daily Independent and New Telegraph and see the interviews I granted shortly after the Osun governosrship election in 2014.
Babatope said: “Then I said Aregbesola spent so much in the election that we believe that in the next nine months, it will be extremely difficult for the APC government in Osun state, led by Aregbesola to pay salaries of staff. If he does so I will give him kudos”.

BUHARI PLANS MILITARY SHAKE-UP, ANGRY WITH DSS

There are indications that President Muhammadu Buhari may carry out a major shake-up in the top echelons of the military.
It was learnt that service chiefs and other senior officers across the various arms of the military might be relieved of their posts to pave way for new hands.
Findings showed that Buhari would replace the service chiefs with equally experienced officers.
It was gathered that all but one of the military chiefs would be disengaged by the President, while appointing new officers who would be expected to implement the new phase of the war against the Boko Haram sect in the North-East.
Sources said that there was anxiety in the military over the looming change of guard which is expected to affect all the services, including the Army, Navy, and the Air Force.
It was gathered that the military chiefs were acutely aware of the fate that might befall them, having reached the pinnacle of their career.
A source said that the President may be considering one of the security chiefs to ensure smooth transition between the present military chiefs and their successors.
But another source said this was not likely, noting that the only security chief that might be retained is the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase, who was appointed a few months ago by the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
One of our correspondents gathered that Buhari would likely appoint his “loyalists” and those he had worked with into top positions.

OSUN CRISIS, BEYOND MY CONTROL – AREGBESOLA

Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State on Friday said the economic situation in the state that led to his administration’s inability to pay workers’ salaries was beyond his control.
He said it was heart-rending that he had found himself in the situation which he described as a quagmire.
Aregbesola spoke with State House correspondents after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari behind closed-doors at the Defence House in Abuja.
He said he was not happy the same way a head of a family would feel when he cannot meet the needs of his family members.
He said, “No head of the family will be happy that he cannot feed members of the family.
“Extend that to state, it is heart-rending that I am in this quagmire.
“But no matter how sad (I don’t want to use the word ‘depressed’), no matter how unhappy I am, the truth is that I will not fail to say that it is a situation absolutely beyond my control.
“I led an administration in receipt of regular allocation in which I do my budget.
“Unfortunately, this allocation started falling in rapid form that totally disorganised my budget and any other arrangement.”
Aregbesola said those who want to be objective would readily admit that the Osun State of November 2010 when he assumed office and Osun of today are not the same.
He said people must give credit to the changes that his administration had brought about in the state, saying the changes were not miracles but were occasioned by application of resources.
The governor further explained that with the unexpected and sharp decline in revenue, his administration had a dislocation.

BUHARI NEEDS MORE TIME TO APPOINT CABINET - AHMED JODA

President Muhammadu Buharideserves a little more time to appoint his cabinet members, the chairman of his transition committee, Alhaji Ahmed Joda, has said.
Joda said this in an interview with State House journalists yesterday after submitting to Buhari, an 800-page report of the memoranda and presentations its committee received from across the country. 
He explained that transfer of power from one political party to another as recently witnessed Nigeria requires a long process.
According to him, this is part of the evolution of democracy, and that Nigerians have to be a bit more patient as such evolution cannot be with immediate effect
He noted that political appointment was entirely the president’s prerogative, saying Buhari would go through the committee’s report and understand its recommendation.
On the insinuation that the submission of the report delayed political appointments, Joda said one of the terms of reference of his committee was to get the handover notes from former president Goodluck Jonathan, but that the committee did not receive it until weeks after its inauguration. 

“You are a Big Betrayer” Tinubu tells President Buhari

                             
A Former Governor of Lagos State and the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, chief Bola Ahmed Tinubu has surprisingly criticized President Muhammadu Buhari, saying he betrayed the party.

This is in the wake of events that led to the emergence of Ex-Kwara State Governor Bukola Saraki as the President of the Eighth Senate and the return of Chief Ike Ekweremadu as the Deputy Senate President for a third term.

Tinubu, who on Wednesday through the Nation Newspaper, in an article titled “The untold story of PDP’s coup behind Saraki’s Senate Presidency” pointed an accusing finger at President Buhari for displaying neutrality in who emerges as the Senate President without due regard to the fate of the party.

According to Tinubu; “Despite the choice of National Assembly leaders being a mixture of party politics and legislative duty, the aloofness, or the perceived neutrality of the President allowed the ‘fight’ within APC to fester until it went of hand.”

THREE TREKKERS FOR ATIKU STRANDED IN YOLA

Three men, who trekked to Yola in honour of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, are now stranded in Yola.
The men, Salihu Jibrin, Aliyu Adamu and Abubakar Suleiman, who spoke to newsmen on Saturday in Yola, said since their arrival, they have been unable to see their mentor, Atiku.
They said all they needed was to see Atiku or his representatives to deliver their messages and go back to their various destinations.
“I trekked for 38 days all the way from Lagos to Yola to see Atiku in view of his role over APC’s victory in the general election but up till now I hAve been unable to see him.
“I am now stranded with no money to go back; at times I sleep in motor parks or squat with good Samaritans,” Jibrin said.
Adamu, who rode on a bicycle from Kaduna to Yola, said he spent eight days on the way.
“I want to thank the Secretary, Nigeria Union of Journalists, Adamawa Council, Mr. Baba Zare, who had been assisting me since arrival to cope with the difficult situation I found myself.
“I want to meet Atiku before finding my way back to Kaduna,” Adamu said.

Delta Appoints New Senior Vice President for Europe, Middle East and Africa

 Delta Air Lines has promoted Nathaniel Pieper to the position of Senior Vice President – Europe, Middle East and Africa effective in August 2015.  He replaces Perry Cantarutti who will leave Delta on secondment to the SkyTeam global airline alliance to assume the position of Chief Executive Officer/Managing Director. 

Based in Paris, Pieper will have accountability for all of Delta’s Europe, Middle East and Africa commercial activities, including maximizing the long-term growth opportunities for Delta’s joint venture agreement with Air France KLM and Alitalia – the industry’s largest trans-Atlantic alliance – as well as the partnership with Virgin Atlantic Airways.  Pieper will report to Delta’s president, Ed Bastian.

“Nat’s outstanding record of strategic fleet management, combined with his experience of forging world-class partnerships, will keep Delta on course for success on the trans-Atlantic, continuing the great work achieved under Perry Cantarutti,” said Ed Bastian. 

APC MAKES A U-TURN, ACCEPTS SARAKI AS SENATE PRESIDENT

The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, on Friday said the party has accepted Senator Bukola Saraki as the President of the Senate.
He said the reality was that Saraki’s colleagues had duly elected him and the party was ready to live with the reality.
Odigie-Oyegun spoke with State House correspondents shortly after joining members of the transition committee set up by President Muhammadu Buhari to present their report to the President at the Defence House, Abuja.
Saraki and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, both of the APC, emerged as leaders of the National Assembly on Tuesday against the directives of the party which had earlier asked its members to vote for Senator Ahmed Lawan and Femi Gbajabiamila.
Since their emergence, the party had insisted that Saraki, Dogara and their supporters would be sanctioned.
When asked specifically whether the party would accept Saraki as the President of the Senate, Odigie-Oyegun said, “Of course! He has been duly elected by his colleagues. We have a reality and we must live with it.”
On Saraki’s aborted visit to the APC secretariat on Thursday, the party chairman said there were a lot of consultations going on at that time and he could not have been in two places at the same time.
He however said party chiefs were already talking with Saraki and would not want to make noise about it.

Impeachment Notice: My Enemies Are At Work -Onyeakpa

BY ABUCHI IFESINACHI, AWKA

The executive chairman of Orumba South Local Government Area, Hon. Barr. John Onyeakpa has described the impeachment notice served to him by legislative chamber of Orumba South council area as handiwork of his enemies and that of those who are hell-bent in halting his fast rising  political profile.

Onyeakpa who stated this in an exclusive interview with Fides, while reacting to the impeachment notice served by the legislative chamber which 16 out of 18 councilors endorsed the resolution and signed by the clerk of the house, said the councilors ganged up against him simply because of he refused them assess to some IGR windows.

The council boss, said the reason why they conspired to remove him was because he turned down their request of using some of the IGR windows of the council area to repay their accumulated debts noting that all those engineering his impeachment were all enmeshed in one financial crisis or the other.

His words, 'Let me just clear the air because a lot had been said within this short period. Honestly, I have had a good working relationship with them but because of selfish interests they came together and concocted these glaring lies against my person. I was not personally served, I understood I was served.