Katsina state Governor, Hon. Aminu Bello Masari has said that without the intervention of the Federal government, many of the states in the country would not have been able to pay the salaries of their workers and would have collapsed in the face of dwindling oil revenue.
Speaking at a town hall meeting with Katsina state indigenes resident in Abuja on Sunday, Governor Masari said the intervention of the federal government has helped many of the states to stay afloat as what they get from the federation is not enough for about 27 of the states to pay salaries of their workers.
The governor said since the present administration in the state came into office, it has received intervention from the federal government on four different occasions to address issues of salaries, gratuity and pension of workers in the state, but lamented that his government is still faced with a huge challenge in terms of funding the operation of the local government system in the state.
According to the governor, federal allocation to the 34 local government councils in the state is not enough for them to pay salaries of their workers, pointing out that while the councils receive about N3.6 billion monthly from the federations account, their total wage bill stands at about N3.7 billion.
He stressed however that while some of the local government areas can afford to stand on their own, some others, especially the big local government areas has to rely on others to survive.
He listed federal financial intervention to the state to include the bailout fund of about N11.8billion, N10 billion special intervention to each of 36 states for capital projects, a monthly intervention of N1 billion to the states to assist the state in the payment of salaries and pension as well as N14.2 billion Paris Club refund.
He disclosed that N6.7 billion from the Paris Club refund will be used to settle arrears of gratuity and pension of civil servants in the state up to June 2016 and that of local government upto March 2016.
While lamenting the current situation of things in the state, Governor Masari said presently, the state is ranked third in the national poverty index and seventh in revenue allocation in the country, adding that the state has reason to be in the position it currently found itself.
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