Lokoja
Despite the drop in Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) allocation to Kogi state for February, the state government would pay the salaries of its workforce before the 27th of every month in keeping to its promise to the workers.
The Commissioner for Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, Asiwaju Idris Asiru, gave the promise on Tuesday in Lokoja.
Asiru, who did not disclose the amount of fall in allocation to the state; but said it was below the expectation of the state government.
He attributed the development to the outbreak of the deadly COVID-19 disease threatening community and the global economy.
Duaglobalnews recalls that the state government had earlier ordered its officials; from grade level one to 13 to stay at home for two weeks as part of measures to curtail the spread of Coronavirus in the state.
Though the state has no reported case of CONVID-19 since it broke out in Wuhan, China December, 2019, 46 cases have been registered in Nigeria with one casualty as at March 25,2020.
The commissioner, who said the delay in payment of January salary of workers was due to the drop from the FAAC allocations, expressed concern that history had repeated itself in this circumstance.
While admitting that the FAAC figures earlier rejected, last week, had now been accepted, Asiru said the reason was because there were no funds to augment the figures.
He commended Governor Yahaya Bello for been proactive by swiftly approving the review of the 2020 budget.
Asiru expressed optimism that the step would stimulate growth, enable government to prioritise key infrastructure projects, protect pro-poor expenditures and ensure adequate provision for health and education sectors.
Asiru assured the people of the state of government’s commitment to practically generate more revenue to boost the allocation to enable it pay salaries and wages of workers.
He described payment of workers’ salaries and wages as one of the “topmost priorities of the present administration in the state.”
