There is palpable tension in Makurdi, the Benue State capital following Federal Government’s withdrawal of Paris Club refunds a few hours before disbursement by the state government.
Currently, the hope of workers and retirees, who were expecting to receive something from the backlog of salaries and pensions owed to them, has been dashed.
A source from Makurdi said workers and retirees may go on the street to protest the withdrawal of the funds.
Barely a day after President Muhammadu Buhari approved the release of the funds, the Governor, Samuel Ortom, had set up a committee to disburse the state’s anticipated share.
However, instead of releasing the funds to states as planned, the NEXT EDITION learnt the Presidency secretly paid Osun State while withholding funds meant for other states.
The discriminatory payment to Osun ahead for its gubernatorial election raised concerns among state governors, who mounted pressure on the presidency to release their share of the money.
A top official of the Benue State Government told this newspaper that the state’s account was hurriedly credited with N14.9 billion on Friday evening.
He, however, noted that Benue was expected to receive about N20 billion from the loan refunds instead of the N14.9 billion that was released by the CBN.
As soon as the money was received, he said Mr. Ortom ordered that it should be disbursed immediately to workers and pensioners, thus discarding an earlier idea of using a committee.
But as relevant officials of the government were raising vouchers for disbursement to beneficiaries, the CBN on Monday evening started recalling the funds.
“The Federal Government was not willing to release the money to many states especially those in the opposition party but we found out that they had secretly paid Osun State.
“That was when governors mounted pressure and got them to release the money to many of the states.
“We got N14.9 billion instead of about N20 billion that was expected as the state’s share of the last tranche of the Paris Club refunds.
“When the funds came in last Friday, the governor ordered that it should immediately be paid to workers and pensioners and disbanded the committee he earlier set up for the purpose,” a top official of the Benue State Government told this newspaper.
READ ALSO: Ortom Confirms Receipt of N14.9bn Paris Club Refund
Reacting to the tension caused by the withdrawal of the funds, Mr. Ortom appealed to the people of the state to remain calm and avoid taking the laws into their hands.
The governor, who spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Terve Akase, expressed shock at the decision of the Federal Government to withdraw the funds.
He, however, said he is hopeful the Federal Government will reverse the ill-fated decision in the interest of the workers and retirees of the state.
“Following the Governor’s directive to the state Ministry of Finance, payment of salaries, pensions and gratuities was set to commence today, only for the people to wake up with the demoralising news of Federal Government’s recall of the funds from the state’s accounts.
“We hope this latest move is not part of the ongoing witch-hunt of the state. Benue people have already suffered enough impunity and attacks.
“We also hope that the withdrawal order was made in error because the said funds are not grants from the Federal Government.
“This was a refund of funds the Federal Government owed Benue over the years, so they shouldn’t make it look as though they had given the state a loan or a grant.”
The governor assured the people that the Nigerian Governor’s Forum will take a position on the issue during its meeting later in the day.
