States to Get Second Tranche of Paris Club Refunds

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

In a bid to ease financial hardships being experience by states in the country, President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, to release the second tranche of the London-Paris Club refunds.

Mr Buhari gave the order on Thursday when he held a meeting in Abuja with the National Economic Council (NEC) made up of state Governors and chaired by the Vice-President.

However, the President stressed that the refunds should be used to settle unpaid salaries and pension liabilities.

“I will not rest until I address those issues that affect our people. One of these basic things is the issue of salaries. It is most important that workers are able to feed their families, pay rent and school fees, then other things can follow,” he said.

President Buhari, who went round the Council Chambers to greet the governors one after another, praised the unity of the Forum of State Governors. He thanked them profusely for their display of “love and respect” to him.

The President said he was overwhelmed by his recent experience in which states, irrespective of political differences charged their citizens to pray in mosques and churches for his well-being and apologized to Governors for barring them from visits to him while he rested in London.

“I didn’t want government to move to London. I wanted it to remain here and I am glad it did,” he said.

After narrating what he went through while on that vacation, President Buhari noted the suggestion by the Governors for him to add more rest, but insisted that he would remain relentless in the pursuit of the interest of the Nigerian people at all times.

This, according to him, was the only way to show his gratitude to the people who, he said, “had given so much to me. I was overwhelmed by the celebration of my return all across the country.”

Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), Mr Abdul-Aziz Yari of Zamfara State, assured the President, on behalf of his colleagues, that they will continue to support his policies and actions which they had adjudged as being in the nation’s best interest.

The Governors of Imo, Akwa-Ibom, Osun and Abia States thanked President Buhari for saving the day for states through the first tranche of the London-Paris Club refunds while calling for the immediate release of the second one.

They also commended the trust the President reposed in the Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, whom they said did not disappoint when he acted as President.