By Bode Olagoke
Abuja
The Progressive governors, on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday met with the President-elect General Muhammadu Buhari, lamenting that the out-going government of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would be leaving behind an empty treasury, adding that the government might not able to pay salaries for the month April and May.
The APC governors led by its chairman, Chief Rochas Okorocha, disclosed that that had come to notify the incoming President on the bad condition of the economy.
He said: “One of the issues that became of concern to all of us is the state of the Nigerian economy which is really in bad shape.
“We have come to notify the incoming president of the challenges ahead of him. As it stands today, most states of the federation have not been able to pay salaries and even the Federal government have not paid April salary and that is very worrisome, by May and June, that (salaries) will be in cumulative of three months.”
Okorocha had told journalists yesterday morning after a closed door meeting of the APC Governors’ Forum that “most governors are not able to pay salaries and there is no any magic any governor can do to pay salary under the present situation.
“We tend to take that up with the President-Elect to inform him of the challenges he has before him and we think he should prepare his mind to know that there is a lot of challenges the states are facing in terms of payment of salaries including federal government as we are not even sure that they would be able to pay April or May salaries. So, here you have an incoming president coming in with an empty treasury and that tells you the challenges we have ahead of us.”
Responding, the President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari, told the governors that the expectation from his government is too high, saying “I have started nervously to explain to people that Rome was not built in a day.”
Buhari said while security remain his first agenda “because if there is no security, there is no development” when he assumed office, he will make sure the people “gives us a chance to stabilise the security.”
He lamented what he called the destruction of social infrastructure, especially in education, but assured that he would do everything within his power to “make sure every part of the country is safe.”