Workers’ Salary Bites Hard As 36 State Governors Converge

36 states Governors of the Federation will meet today, Wednesday,to consider proposals for a possible bailout for states with financial difficulties, especially those unable to pay workers’ salaries.

The governors are also expected to discuss their falling monthly allocations from the Federation Account and the status of the Excess Crude Account (ECA).

Last month, governors on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) had met with President Muhammadu Buhari requesting a bailout to enable them pay the backlog of salaries to workers in the states.

Already, workers in Osun, Enugu, Ekiti, Benue and Ebonyi States have embarked on strike over the inability of their state governments to pay their salaries.

In a statement by the Director General of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Asishana Okauru, he said: “I have been directed by the Chairman, Governor Abdullaziz Yari, to invite you to a meeting of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum holding as follows on Wednesday, June 17, 2015 at 10 am at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.”

Agenda for the meeting will include: brief by the chairman, update on the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) and ECA, proposal for bailout to states, and a revenue enhancement scheme for states, among others.