Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has said in a statement that the Federal Government was not responsible for the failure of state governments to pay workers’ salaries. She noted that governors of states owing salaries should be blamed for the development in their states because they were told through the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee, FAAC, to make the issue of wage a priority.
The statement reads:
“This is to clarify the misinformation put forward by certain governors to the effect that Federal workers are being owed salaries.
“This is incorrect. Staff salaries at the Federal level are up-to-date; workers have received their April salaries.
“Regarding difficulties in salary payment, certain governors are trying to blame the federal government for their predicaments.
“This is wrong. They had been told through the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee to prioritize salaries, they chose not to do so, hence the backlog that some states are experiencing,” it said.
It added that the 50 per cent drop in revenues simply meant that salaries should be prioritized.
According to the statement, the federal government should not be blamed for avoidable mistakes made at state level.
“It added that it was misinforming to allege that federal workers were being owed salaries.
“This is incorrect. Staff salaries at the federal level are up to date; workers have received their April salaries,” the statement added.