BEVERLY HILLS, MARCH 16, (THEWILL) – President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, to immediately release the second tranche of the London-Paris Club refunds to the states in order to ease their financial hardships.
The President, who addressed the meeting of the National Economic Council, NEC, comprising state governors and chaired by the Vice-President on Thursday in Abuja, however made a strong case for settlement of unpaid salaries and pension liabilities of workers in the states.
According to him, “I will not rest until I address those issues that affect our people. One of these basic things is the issue of salaries. It is most important that workers are able to feed their families, pay rent and school fees, then other things can follow.”
Buhari, who went round the Council Chambers to greet each of the governors, praised the unity of the Forum of State Governors and thanked them profusely for their display of “love and respect” to him.
The President said he was overwhelmed by his recent experience in which states, irrespective of political differences charged their citizens to pray in mosques and churches for his well-being and apologized to Governors for barring them from visits to him while he rested in London.
“I didn’t want government to move to London. I wanted it to remain here and I am glad it did,” a statement issued by the President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media & Publicity, Garba Shehu, quoted him as saying.
After narrating what he went through while on vacation, he acknowledged the Governors’ suggestion for him to have more rest, but insisted that he would remain relentless in the pursuit of the interest of the Nigerian people at all times.
This, according to him, was the only way to show his gratitude to the people who, he said, “had given so much to me. I was overwhelmed by the celebration of my return all across the country”.
The Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, Abdul-Aziz Yari of Zamfara State assured the President, on behalf of his colleagues, that they will continue to support his policies and actions which they had adjudged as being in the nation’s best interest.
The governors of Imo, Akwa-Ibom, Osun and Abia States thanked the President for saving the day for states through the first tranche of the London-Paris Club refunds while calling for the immediate release of the second one.
They also commended the trust the President reposed on the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, who they noted did not disappoint when he acted as President.
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