WHY SALARIES ARE DELAYED OR NOT PAID BY NIGERIAN STATES.

Salaries are not paid promptly because funds are not available as at when due as planned in the budget and governments do not spend outside plans and budgets. There are already laid down percentages for recurrent and capital projects and you do not transfer such funds without risking everything. Even if you do it is on short term basis and these funds must be returned to be accounted.

This problem is not located only in this State, Bayelsa but widespread. The argument has been that States are underfunded and sometimes their funds are withheld by the Centre arbitrarily. So the Governors forum intervened and got lawyers to sort it out with the Nigeria's benevolent group of creditors the Paris club. Remember this group that first wrote off our national debts and has been influential in helping prevent reoccurrence. So these lawyers working for a percentage fee decided to dig out such accumulated deductions at the centre and got the Paris club to intervene in order to ameliorate the States condition.

Of course the Centre cannot feel amused you know what I mean. So politics gets into the release. The talk about too much money in circulation and release in tranches,the talk of the state using it for a purpose decided by the Centre knowing that it is not possible,the attempt to make people think that the economic recession was the fault of those Governor's spending habits rather than Federal economic management failure all leading to the 2019 elections. So that is what you are seeing play out. Don't take them too seriously. With the watch of EFCC,no government would risk arbitrary spending except in line with budgets.

So salaries payments may be affected for some time,only gradually can it get back to normal. For those who are looking for the truth ,this is it. Government is working within its powers to expand revenue base.Just as presented in the last Bayelsa Transparency briefing the State has seen IGR outstripping the one billion naira mark. That is how to go on sustainability. That is why economic team has been set up and efforts are being made to secure the state as to encourage investors to reside here especially oil and gas companies. The vision is being realised before our very eyes. Our contribution includes being part of this recovery ,making sacrifices and refusing to be deceived by politicatters.