Bayelsa State Government has said that it would give priority to the payment of workers’ salaries in consonance with the emphasis placed on workers by the Restoration Administration.
This disclosure was made by the state Commissioner for Finance, Maxwell Ebibai, in a statement recently
He disclosed that the state government received the sum of N10.8 billion as allocation from the Federation Account for the month of July 2018, adding that the state earlier received N12.7bn for the month of June.
He said that the receipts from the federation for the month of June showed a shortfall of about N2 billion from that of July.
Ebibai said that the state government would give priority to the payment of workers’ salaries in consonance with the emphasis placed on workers by the Restoration Administration.
He stated also that while ongoing capital projects would also attract priority attention, other state expenses would be treated on their scale of importance.
The Commissioner said that the government had to brief the citizens of the state on receipts from the Federation Account in line with the transparency policy of the Restoration Administration.
He recalled that the State Government had to generate funds through alternative sources to pay June salaries and other duties as a result of the delay in the meeting of the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee.
Ebibai said: “Last month, the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee meeting was delayed. But the state government generated funds to pay workers’ salaries and other responsibilities of government through alternative sources of revenue. That was an expression of commitment.
“The state got N12.7 billion for the month June and N10.8 billion for July. The June receipts indicated shortfall of about N2 billion in federal receipts for the month of July.
“In line with our covenant with workers, their salaries would be on first line charge. Our capital projects would also get attention. Other expenses will be treated on a case by case basis.”
Ebibai said that the shortfall in federal receipts had brought to the fore the fragile state of the economy in spite of the massive drive to boost the internally
generated revenue in the state.
He called for further commitment and efforts from stakeholders to give the deserved attention to the creation of a sustainable financial base which is not over dependent of the allocations from the Federation Account and to manage the cost of doing business in the state.
The commissioner called on the Bayelsa citizenry to ensure prompt payment of their taxes in the interest of the development of the state.
By Brakerekebina Birinimighan
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