President Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the Minister of Finance, Mrs.
Kemi Adeosun and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin
Emefiele, to act appropriately and with dispatch in releasing 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
made up of 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 their workers.
“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,” he said.
President Buhari, who went round the
Council Chambers to greet the governors one after another, praised the
unity of the Forum of State Governors. He 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,” he said.
After narrating what he went through while on that vacation, President
Buhari noted the suggestion by the Governors for him to add 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 President Buhari 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 in the Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo,
whom they said did not disappoint when he acted as President.
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