Facts have emerged that the Cross River State government
spent over N4 billion in payment of April and May salaries to local government
workers without Federal allocation for the corresponding period.
The action was in keeping with the policy of
Governor Ben Ayade to always stand in the gap to enable local councils meet
their obligations, including the payment of salaries.
Official government records show that bailouts
given to local governments from the State government between 2013 and now
stands at N11.4 billion.
So far, local governments have been able to
refund only N1.6billion, leaving a shortfall of N9.6billion, which it owes the
State.
The breakdown was discovered to be as follow:
Details of State bailout to LGAs:
Dec 2013 – N500million
Feb 2014 – N250million
April 2014 – N200million
Oct 2014 – N58.8million
Oct 2014 – N198million
July 2015 – N2.1billion
Sept 2015 – N474.5million
Oct 2015 – N45million
Oct 2015 – N2.1billion
Nov 2015 – N2.1billion
May 2016 – N300million
May 2016 – N592.4million
June 2016 – N649.7million
Sept 2016 – N700million
April 2017 – N1.03billion
TOTAL = N11.4billion
Repayments
Jan 2014 – N500million
Nov 2017 – N600million
April 2018 – N500million
TOTAL = N1.6billion
In fact, without Ayade’s intervention, the 18
councils of the State would have long gone bankrupt and insolvent.
In the light of the foregoing, a source in the
Government House said: “The ludicrous claim in the social media about a purported
withdrawal of N4 billion from local governments account exist only in the
imagination of the writer.
If local governments, which are highly indebted
to the State, cannot meet their basic obligations including payment of salaries
without the intervention of the State government, one wonders how they could
have had N4 billion in their accounts for it to be withdrawn for unknown
purposes.
“The imaginary withdrawal of N4billion from
local governments account is wickedness taken too far for a State that just paid
salary and pensions for both State and LG less than two weeks to election.”