Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has disclosed why many states are struggling to pay salaries and fulfill other financial obligations to people in the states.
Ortom said this is happening because the allocation from the federal government to the states has declined, hence they can’t pay salary.
The governor made the disclosure on Thursday when he featured on Arise TV programme, Morning Show.
He stated that more than 20 states in the country are currently having difficulties in paying salaries.
Ortom attributed the poor allocation to nonremittance from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, NNPC.
Similarly, following accusations from Benue pensioners and civil servants, the governor explained that he inherited N70 billion arrears from previous governments.
According to him, his administration has been able to deplete the N70 billion to N30 billion since he assumed office in 2015.
He said, “When I came in, I inherited arrears of pensions and salaries of over N70 billion, I have depleted that to N30 billion now from 2015 to date.
“On salaries, the challenge is not only with my state, more than 20 states are finding it difficult to pay salaries as it stands now and this is as a result of poor allocation from the federation account due to non remittance from the NNPC”.
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