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.