Labour Party Opposes Bailout for States

The Labour Party (LP) has asked the president-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), not to give any bailout to governors to pay salaries when he assumes the leadership of the country from May 29.

The National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Abdukadir Abdulsalam, who spoke with journalists yesterday in Abuja, said the party was opposed to the federal government giving any special allowances to pay salaries because the states failed in their responsibility to pay the salaries due to mismanagement and corruption on the parts of the governors.

Some governors and governorselect of the All Progressives Congress (APC) had on Tuesday met Buhari in Abuja, complaining about the economic downtown and difficulties paying the salaries of workers and requested for an intervention measure to enable the states to offset salary obligations.

“President-elect should not give any kobo in the name of special bailout or intervention to states to pay salaries when he takes over. It is unfortunate and uncalled for that governors most of whom operate in their states flamboyantly and mismanage their states resources to say they cannot pay salaries and shamelessly the President-elect to bail them out. Is it the same people calling for change that are asking to be helped to pay salaries?

“They are only trying to cover-up for their god-fathers and where did they want the incoming administration to the money to support them? Are they saying the federal government should take over the payment of their salaries? Buhari should not agree to their subtle threat or request. If they don’t want to be prudent on their state resources, they should be made to stop the mismanagement of the resources and allocations given to them by the federal government,” Abdulsalam said.

The party chairman also advised Buhari to prioritise getting the states to work out legal means of getting internally generated revenues and to explore the natural resources in their states.