BY OMONIYI SALAUDEEN, OLUSEYE OJO, IBADAN, AKINWALE IJANUSI, JALINGO, PAUL OSUYI, ASABA, ABDULLAH TSOHO,DUTSE, JUDEX OKORO, CALABAR, TONY JOHN, PORT HARCOURT, MARIAM ALESHINLOYE AGBOOLA, JOS, FEMI FOLARANMI, YENAGOA, GEORGE ONYEJIUWA, OWERRI, JOE EFFIONG, UYO, ANDY ASEMOTA, KATSINA, WOLE BALOGUN, ADO EKITI, ATTAHIRU AHMED, GUSAU, DAVID MOLOMO, YOLA AND CLEMENT ADEYI, OSOGBO
Anti- corruption war, debt burden, clamour for new minimum wage, raise tension and fears of mass purge of workers across the states.
As they grapple with financial challenges leading to the backlog of arrears of unpaid salaries, the organized labour is also warming up for a show down with the government over the proposed review of the Naional Minimum wage. According to the last agreement reached with the union, the minimum wage is subject to a review every five years. Based on that, the leadership of the labour union sees the current lackluster attitude of some state governors to regular payment of workers’ salaries as a deliberate ploy to forestall fresh agitation for the review of minimum wage. Consequently, they are threatening a big show down with the government, if nothing is done to honour the agreement. This is coming at a time when the fear of mass retrenchment has enveloped the atmosphere in most of the distressed states. As the struggle for the review simmers, the anti corruption war of the present government has put many state officials on their toes. Most likely to be affected in the planned downsizing are those individuals who have soiled their hands in one form of corrupt practice or the other.
There is no hope yet in the horizon for better improvement in the financial status of most states of the federation. Since the present administration came on board on May 29, there has been steady decline in the federal allocation accruing to the states owing to the global economic downturn, especially the dwindling price of crude oil in the international market.
While the worrisome trend continues, every effort being made by the Federal Government to bail out the states has shown no appreciable result, as most of them are now rendered absolutely insolvent, making it impossible for them to pay backlog of salaries owed their workers, or meet their electoral promises to the electorate.
This state of ‘arrested development’ has consequently put some governors in a serious state of dilemma, forcing them to consider various alternative options to overcome the crippling financial situation. As Sunday Sun findings revealed, three major options are now being pursued to get out of the present economic quagmire. These are: conversion of loans to federal government bonds to enable them spread out their debts over a period of years; outright suspension of development projects until financial situation improves; aggressive drive for higher Internal Revenue Generation and downsizing of the workforce.
Already, the ongoing staff audit in most of the affected states has heightened speculations and anxiety about the move by the concerned governors to prune down the workforce in order to reduce recurrent expenditure and free more funds for development projects that would impact on the lives of the generality of the people. The decision, which is being considered as the last resort, is based on the declining federal allocation accruing to the states.
Oyo: Debt burden, lean treasury fuels fear of retrenchment
In Oyo State, the monthly statutory allocation which stood at about N4.2 billion as at September 2014 has come down to about N2.3 billion due to fall in oil revenue, while the monthly wage bill and salaries sum up to over N5 billion. This amount added to N1 billion Internally Generated Revenue per month, according to the information made available to Sunday Sun, has left the state with a monthly deficit of about N1.8billion after the payment of workers’ salary. In addition, information derived from the Debt Management Office (DMO) in Abuja as at December 2014 revealed that the external debt profile of the state stood at $72million. As a result of the financial predicament, the state has been grappling with backlog of salaries since October last year when the trend started.
In an attempt to reduce its financial burden, Oyo State Government has announced an immediate suspension of payment of WAEC fees for final year students in secondary schools, even as it introduced annual levy of N3, 000 on the pupils in the state. The government has also suspended forthwith sponsorship of pilgrims to either Saudi Arabia or Israel based on the cash crunch crippling the economy of the state.In view of the lingering financial crisis, hundreds of public and civil servants in the employment of Oyo State government are currently jittery over the staff audit exercise already embarked upon by the government, fueling speculation of an impending workers’ retrenchment. While the government insists that exercise is aimed at creating an accurate database for workers at the state and local government levels, the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) saw it as a ploy to lay down workers. Although Mr. Soji Eniade said the authority had allayed the fear of retrenchment, there is still apprehension that the exercise will be a repeat experience of 2012 when a similar staff audit exercise led to the sack of 3,000 workers over alleged certificate forgery, falsified ages, discovery of ghost workers, among other reasons.
Taraba: Mass purge looms
In Taraba State, a severe purge in the state`s civil service is already looming, judging by the report of an 8-man committee headed by Dr. Philip Duwe set up by the current administration to look into the issues of appointments and transfer of service covering the period between November 2012 and May 2015. This is coming on the heels of the ongoing verification of credentials and data capturing exercise for all civil servants in the state. According to the state government, the exercise is to ascertain the state`s actual workforce and halt the phenomenon of ghost workers syndrome.
However, Sunday Sun investigation revealed that the rumour about the move by the state government to downsize may not be unconnected with the current financial crunch, its huge debt overhang and the declining federal allocation accruing to the state. As available statistics showed, the monthly federal allocation for the month of June was N3,917,897,029. (Three billion, Nine Hundred and Seventeen Million, Eight Hundred and Ninety Seven Thousand and Twenty Nine Naira), while the average monthly wage bill fluctuates between N1.3 billion to 1.8 billion, a situation that prompted the setting up of a fact finding committee to look into the causes of the combined, give the state an average of N7. 2 billion compared with monthly wage bill of about N4.3 billion and the debt profile of N90 billion.
While Governor Seriake Dickson has continued to sustain the payment of salaries, the state government says it is not considering retrenchment of workers as a strategy to free the state from its current predicament.
Imo: Salaries slashed, projects halted
Imo State receives approximately N3 billion as monthly allocation from the Federal Government with an Internally Generated Revenue hovering between N500 and N600 Million. The staggering wage bill of over N2 billion and the cumulative debt profile of over N120 billion have put the state in a serious state of financial dilemma. As part of the measures to address the challenging situation, the state has applied to the federal government to convert its debt to bonds ostensibly to give the state a breathing space from the commercial banks which are practically sitting on the neck of the state government for servicing of its debt every month. Apart from that, the state government has instructed the Head of Service of the state to slash the salaries of the civil servants as an alternative to outright downsizing of the workforce.
Already, most of the projects started by the administration, including the 27 General Hospitals have been put on hold due to the paucity of funds.
Akwa Ibom: No cause for alarm The state commissioner for finance, Mr Akan Okon, put the total debts owed commercial banks at N64.5 billion as against the N500 billion being peddled around. Also, according to him, the average federal allocation accruing to the state is about N10.5 billion monthly. This, added to N1.1 billion Internally Generated Revenue gives the state an average of N11.6 billion revenue per month.
Matched with an average staff monthly emolument of the state of N2.8 billion, the state has no cause to retrench or owe salaries of workers. Thus, the state has employed more workers, while others are threatening to sack. He said: “Our wage bill does not in any way warrant retrenchment. We pay our workers as at when due. We are not owing and even outstanding pensions and gratuities that had been owed since 2002, we just paid it. So, the issue of retrenching our workers does not arise at all.”
He added that measures were being put in place to increase the IGR of the state to meet other financial obligations. “As for the internally Generated Revenue which used to be N1.1 billion, we are putting mechanism in place to ensure optimum collection. So, in the next few months, it would increase significantly,” he assured.
Katsina: Shema’s N40B to the rescue
In Katsina, like other distressed states, virtually all ongoing projects have been put on hold due to the declining federal allocation and the N48.2 billion debt Governor Aminu Bello Masari claimed he had inherited from the immediate past administration.
In spite of the financial challenge, Masari has allayed the fear of retrenchment as an option to get the state out of the current crisis. For now, the state does not owe workers salaries.
Perhaps, what gave the administration the kind of stability being enjoyed now is the N40 billion left in the coffers of the state government by his immediate predecessor- Ibrahim Shema.
Ekiti State: Workers not threatened, despite huge debt overhang Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, in keeping fate with his stomach infrastructure programme and has put payment of workers’ salaries as one of his topmost priorities.
This is in spite of the huge debt overhang amounting to about N107 billion allegedly bequeathed to the new administration by former governor Kayode Fayemi. According to information available to Sunday Sun, the average monthly federal allocation currently accruing to the state is N1.8 billion, while the Internally Generated Revenue for the same period stands at N460m.
The two figures combined give average monthly revenue of N2.2 billion.
This leaves a big financial deficit for the state after deducting monthly wage bill of about N2.6 billion as well as debt servicing. While the government has assured workers of regular payment of their salaries, the labour union is becoming jittery over what may be the end result of the ongoing staff audit.
Adamawa: Controversy over debt profile
Adamawa State receives an average of between N2 and N2.7 billion from the federation account per month. The Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) on the other hand fluctuates between N4 and N4.3 billion annually.
Meanwhile, the state’s debt profile has continued to generate controversy, as the previous administrations give conflicting figures of the pension arrears, financial obligations to contractors as well as debts owned workers in the state.
For instance, former Acting Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri alleged that the former Governor left a debt profile of over N80 billion. No official clarification yet on the controversy.
Zamfara: Deficit financingcreates fear of mass purge
Zamfara State is not on the list of states that owe workers’ salaries. But the financial status of the state is not an envy to anybody. Sunday Sun investigation showed that the average monthly federal allocation to the state hovers between N3 billion and N4 billion. Similarly, its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) per month fluctuates between N10 million and N20 million, while the debt profile is put at N31 billion. If allowance is given to the monthly wage bill of about N1.3 billion as well as debt servicing, it obviously means that the state is operating on deficit financing. How long this would continue is a matter of conjecture.