By Oyibo Salihu
Lokoja
Kogi state Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, has disclosed to the workers that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had granted the state government the first tranches of N20 billion bailout fund to tackle the arrears of salaries.
The governor also vowed to implement the final report of the staff screening committee “as soon as they complete their assignment.”
Addressing workers of the state at the confluence stadium in Lokoja yesterday during 2016 May Day celebration, the governor said CBN had granted his government the approval to draw down on the first tranche of our bailout funds of N20 billion from the federal government.
He said: “We will draw down on the balance of about N30 billion as we meet the milestones for implementation of the first tranche as set by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
“I am aware that almost as soon as we were sworn-in malicious persons serving evil interests both within and outside Kogi state filled the media with rumours that we have accessed and frittered away the bailout funds.
“Nothing could be further from the truth. The reality we met on ground at the CBN was that the previous application made on behalf of the State by the last administration was fraught with irregularities and shoddily done. In a word, it was so badly done it could never be approved. We had to start from scratch.”
Bello, who also announce the government commitment in using the bailout money for salaries and emoluments of workers both at state and local government level, noted that he certain that by the time his administration fully disburse the bailout funds, issues of disputes over outstanding emoluments would be over.
Earlier, the state chairman of Nigeria Labour Congress(NLC), Comrade Onuh John Edoka, said the issues of harmonisation of pensions and payment of gratuity to retired Kogi workers had been pending for long, urging the state government look into it with a view to solve it.
