Outgoing govs bequeath multi-billion naira liabilities to successors

Governors who would be vacating office on May 29 are bequeathing liabilities to their successors, running into billions of naira, Daily Trust Saturday findings revealed.

Apart from uncompleted projects, the incoming chief executives would be inheriting a backlog of unpaid loans, salaries and pension arrears, as well as gratuities.

While there is something like “silence of the graveyard” on debt profiles, especially in states where the outgoing governors are going to hand over to their preferred candidates, tongues are wagging in some states where the opposition had their way and won during the last governorship election.

The Kano State Government and the incoming government of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) have continued to trade words over what the latter described as moves by the Abdullahi Ganduje administration that may be inimical to the incoming government’s policies.

Recall that the governor-elect, Abba Kabir Yusuf, issued two public advisories in the last week, first asking all property developers to halt whatever development they may be doing on public properties like schools, places of worship, markets and traditional heritage. In his second advisory, he had warned lenders not to give the state government any new loan unless such was cleared by him.

But the state government had chastised the governor-elect’s advisories, describing them as unconstitutional, urging him to wait until he is sworn in on May 29.

However, recently, the transition committee set up by the incoming administration issued another advisory, this time to all local government chairmen, advising them to desist from the alleged round-tripping of public funds between their councils and the state’s Ministry of Local Government.

“We advise them not to allow themselves to be used again as conduits for siphoning public funds to finance the forthcoming supplementary elections in some states and federal constituencies of the state. We further advise them to operate strictly in accordance with all the relevant financial regulations and extant guidelines,” the advisory, signed by Baffa Bichi, the committee chairman, stated.

Reacting, however, the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), urged the chairman of the Kano State NNPP Gubernatorial Transition Committee to desist from heating up the polity and creating unnecessary tension in the state by issuing advisories that could lead to chaos.

The chairman of ALGON, Kano State, Bappa Muhammad, made the call in a statement reacting to an allegation against local government chairmen in the state on round-tripping of public funds between their councils and the state’s Ministry of Local Government to finance supplementary elections.m

Civil servants beg Lalong in Plateau

As the May 29 handover date is drawing nearer, one of the liabilities the Simon Lalong government in Plateau State is likely to leave for the incoming administration of Caleb Mutfwang is a two-month salary backlog for civil servants.

Confirming the situation, the Plateau State chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Eugene Manji, said the state government was owing workers February and March salaries, but hoping that April and May would be added and paid before the handover date.

Daily Trust Saturday gathered that the Plateau State University (PLASU), Bokkos, is so far owed four months. A source in the university said their monthly wage bill was N120million, giving a total of N480million for the four months owed thus far.

It is believed that the institution would be owed up to six months by the time the administration would hand over power, pushing the amount to N600m.

Another liability is the N3billion bond from the capital market to finance some projects in the state. This was agreed upon by the Plateau State Executive Council in 2021.

Speaking on the bond then, the Commissioner for Information and Communication, Dan Manjang, said the executive approved the bond as part of its drive to ensure that some of its ongoing projects were completed and other critical ones initiated.

He said the shortfall in internally generated revenue, as well as the federal account allocation accruing to the state due to COVID-19 outbreak, had necessitated the sourcing of alternative funds to execute critical projects.

In her remarks, the finance commissioner, Regina Soemlat, said the N3bn bond was part of the N30bn earlier sourced for the Lalong Legacy Projects, which after recouping, stood at N27bn.

However, the Lalong Legacy Projects across the state, which consist of schools and hospitals, are yet to be completed; hence, they will be part of the liabilities the incoming administration will inherit.

Another yet-to-be-completed project is the interchange (fly-over) at the British American junction, as well as dualisation from the junction to Lamingo roundabout.

The cost of the project is nearly N10bn, with a 12-month completion period. It was started in March 2022. The completion period has slightly passed and the project is yet to be completed.

Although the state government is still promising that it would be commissioned before handing over to the new administration, many pundits believe it is unlikely. Should the government be unable to complete and commission the project before May 29, it will become another liability for the incoming administration.

Niger: Bago to contend with loans, unpaid salaries

In Niger State, Governor Abubakar Sani Bello, who is completing his second term in office, would be bequeathing liabilities to the incoming administration of Umar Mohammed Bago in several areas.

The administration is leaving behind, the backlog of salaries, pensions, loans, leave grants and other entitlements, amounting to billions of naira.

The state chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Idrees Abdulkareem Lafene, said the current administration owed staff of the 25 local government areas October 2020 salaries.

He also said the government owed state and local government retirees billions of naira, but only N3bn had so far been paid to selected pensioners, saying the balance was in the pipeline.

Lafene said the government also owed civil servants two years leave grants, third-party deductions and union dues, among others.

Daily Trust Saturday recalls that on November 3, 2022, the state announced that it was owing retirees N14bn gratuity, out of which N1bn was released and payment made to selected pensioners in the state.

The director-general, Niger State Pension Board, Nasiru Saidu Namaska, who made this known while briefing the media at the flag-off of the payment of gratuities to 178 retirees in the state, said that out of the N1bn released by the state government, N500m would be used at the state level, while the remaining N500m was to be used to pay local government retirees.

He said 14,200 retirees were being owed a backlog of N14bn for gratuity, N2bn for deaths, N3bn for monthly pension, while N1.2bn was for augmentation.

The governor-elect, Bago, had raised concerns while inaugurating the transition committee at the Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi International Conference Centre, Minna.

He said part of the assignment given to the committee was to interface with officials of the outgoing government to understand the position of the state, financially and economically, to enable the incoming government probes the position of all government books, transactions, as well as commitments made.

“Accountability is very important in governance; the trust of the common man in us gave us this mandate. We have promised Nigerlites to be accountable and responsible, to protect them and our resources, irrespective of tribe, religion or race. To achieve this, we are expected to be professional, diligent and firm. We need the understanding of all and sundry.

“Let me also remind you that we have no excuse for failure because this is the first major outing of our incoming administration and we cannot afford to disappoint the people, who are anxiously looking forward to what we have to offer for the improvement of their lives. Every step we take and everything we do from today onwards would matter a great deal on how we shall be rated by the people,” he said.

Daily Trust Saturday reports that apart from financial liabilities, there are some ongoing road projects, among them the 83km Minna-Bida road. The project is yet to attain 50 per cent completion.

Nwifuru inherits liabilities from ‘godfather’

In Ebonyi, our findings also showed that the governor-elect, Francis Nwifuru of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) would be faced with a backlog of liabilities from his godfather, David Umahi.

The domestic debt of the state, which stood at N50.5bn in 2017, currently stands above N83.9bn.

Another liability is the uncompleted multi-billion naira dualisation of Enugu-Abakaliki, Abakaliki-Afikpo highways project, as well as completing and equipping the international airport.

Another project, which the governor-elect had earlier pledged to revitalise, is the famous Nigercem, a cement industry at Nkalagu in Ishielu Local Government. It has the capacity to absorb over 2,000 workers.

Similarly, the governor-elect will be faced with supplying pipe borne water to residents of the state by rehabilitating Oferekpe, Nkwu and Ezillo water schemes.

Daily Trust Saturday learnt that the Oferekpe water scheme, built during the era of Chief Martin Elechi as governor of the state, supplied water to residents of Abakaliki and environs before May 2015.

Also, a security-based liability, which the incoming governor would inherit, is the unsettled Effium-Ezza communal conflict in Ohankwu Local Government Area, which has claimed many lives and property and displaced thousands of residents.

Efforts to hear from the incoming governor and those close to him on how they plan to cope with the challenges were not successful. But a source close to the outgoing governor who spoke in confidence said “governance is a continuum.”

“There is no government in the world that is not indebted, maybe to the people, the banks, foreign creditors or itself, in some cases.

“There is no big deal. Umahi also inherited some debts when he came, but that did not in any way stop him from providing essential services to the people. We challenge anyone in doubt to come to Ebonyi and see what he did in the last eight years,” he said.

Father Alia raises eyebrow over Benue finances

In Benue State, Governor Samuel Ortom, whose second tenure comes to an end on May 29, would also bequeath some liabilities to the incoming administration.

Topmost of these liabilities are unpaid salaries and arrears of civil servants, as well as pensions owed retired workers.

Others are domestic debts incurred by the outgoing government and those before it.

Some of the loans include federal government’s interventions and commercial bank loans. For instance, the state chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Levi Terna Akuma, said the state government was owing teachers 10 months of salaries in 2017.

Akuma said, “The backlogs are there. December 2022 is not yet paid. Nine local governments are still waiting; then, the two arrears, because it is not every teacher that is in those months. So I believe it will definitely be around 14 months of unpaid salaries.”

On his part, the state chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Terungwa Igbe, said the situation of workers remained the same with non-payment of salaries.

Igbe said, “At the state level, workers are owed eight months, while at the local government level, they are owed 10 months, and teachers, 11 months respectively. They (the state government) were talking about collecting loan, but up till now, we have not seen the loan; they have problem getting it. This administration is going, so we are waiting for a new one to come and pay.”

Also, the chairman of the Concerned/Aggrieved Pensioners in Benue State, Comrade Akosu Ioream, said the pensioners were being owed between 39 and 79 months of arrears at the state and local government levels respectively, with the backlog of gratuity now a forgotten issue.

It would be recalled that Governor Ortom had pleaded with pensioners in the state severally to be patient with his administration as it sought measures to offset their arrears.

Meanwhile, the incoming administration of The Reverend Father Hyacinth Alia, has raised an eyebrow over the finances of the state, and warned top civil servants against cooperating with the Ortom government in releasing money.

Alia wrote a letter to one of the viable parastatals in the state, warning the organisation of impending consequences except it stopped acting on last-minute directives on spending.

In Taraba, Gov Ishaku bequeaths N100bn debt

The outgoing governor of Taraba State, Darius Ishaku, is allegedly leaving behind a debt of more than N100bn.

Although no official of the state government was willing to give the actual debt portfolio of the state, sources at the state Ministry of Finance said the debt incurred by the current administration was more than N100bn.

According to one of the sources, there are also debts owned commercial banks by the 16 local government areas, which the state government stood as guarantor.

The source also hinted that the administration of Governor Ishaku was leaving over N40bn unpaid gratuity of retired state and local government workers.

Apart from these debts, Governor Ishaku is also leaving behind over N32m debt he owned print and electronic media houses for advertisements carried on his behalf.

The debt owned media houses, particularly newspapers, is for advertisements on his achievements, which were published since May 2021, but the governor refused to pay.

Similarly, local government workers and primary school teachers are owned salaries of between six and seven months.

Daily Trust Saturday recalls that the incoming governor, Agbu Kefas and the outgoing governor traded words over unpaid workers’ salaries.

Emmanuel Bello, the spokesperson of the governor-elect, in a statement issued in Abuja, noted that the new administration would pay all salary arrears within its first 100 days in office.

But the senior assistant to Governor Ishaku on media and publicity, Bala Dan Abu, quickly responded, stating that the outgoing governor was not leaving any salary arrears.

Dan Abu stated that the administration of Governor Ishaku was not leaving much debt when compared to other states.

Countless projects in C/River

Last week, Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River State issued a statement that he would complete and commission a short flyover he prefers to call Spaghetti Bridge at the Odukpani-Calabar highway. This project was started over two years ago.

Ayade initiated over 35 other projects. While few were reported to have been completed, many are stillborn or barely completed.

Some of his projects said to have been completed and awaiting inauguration are the cocoa processing plant in Ikom, cassava processing plant in Obubra, rice processing mill in Yala, groundnut oil processing mill, Bekwara, Bakassi deep seaport, superhighway from southern Cross River to the boundary between Benue State, as well as the Obudu cargo airport and the CallyAir.

There are also three megacities in the three senatorial districts.

Staggering contract sums are reported to have been sunk into these endless projects, but findings revealed that many of them are at the foundation stage.

Another area is outstanding gratuities and pensions for retired workers.

Daily Trust Saturday recalls that the Joint Public Service Negotiating Council, Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress were up in arm with the government recently over huge debts owed workers. This led to intervention by the chairman, Cross River State Traditional Rulers Council, Etinyin Etim Okon Edet.

Sokoto legislators allege N86bn loan

In Sokoto, the state government is said to be indebted to the tune of N86bn.

This was revealed by some members of the State House of Assembly who were elected on the platform of the APC. The leader of the House, Bello Isa Ambarura, made the allegation during a press conference at the height of electioneering.

The opposition APC won the last governorship election in the state through Ahmed Aliyu.

The outgoing government did not set up a transition committee until last Tuesday, and the one set up by the incoming governor was yet to make any public statement regarding their findings at the time of filing this report.

Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal tasked the committee, which was co-chaired by the deputy governor, Manir Dan’iya, and the secretary to the state government, Muhammad Mainasara Ahmad, to collate and document achievements recorded by the outgoing administration from 2015 to 2023.

He also tasked them to obtain and analyse reports from ministries, departments and agencies on all ongoing projects/programmes, in relation to respective levels of execution/fiscal profile, and constraints, among others.

Tambuwal urged them to prepare a comprehensive handover note to the incoming administration, as well as organise a befitting swearing-in ceremony in collaboration with the incoming administration’s team.