President Muhammadu Buhari
The
Labour Party has flayed state governors for blackmailing President
Muhammadu Buhari to release over N700bn bailout to them, saying the
action set a bad precedent and will encourage governors to steal more.
The LP National Chairman, Alhaji
Abdukadir Abdulsalam, told journalists in Abuja that the disadvantages
of the bailout far outweighed its benefits.
He said, “This over N700bn released by
the President for the bailout belongs to Nigerians. Although it is good
that workers will get their salaries, but the bailout has created a bad
precedent. Such an action is tantamount to illegality.
“Buhari came with the promise of change,
but it seems the President has not learnt from the mistakes of previous
administrations because what is happening now was what happened during
the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo when the state
governors prevailed on him to bastardise the local government system and
local government funds were diverted to personal use of the governors.
“For
how long will Buhari continue to bail out the states to pay workers’
salaries? It will be difficult for the President to prevent many of the
governors from mismanaging the funds since they know that even when they
are caught, they have plea bargain and that the alleged offence is
bailable.”
Abdulsalam added that when former
President Goodluck Jonathan assumed office, the governors also deceived
him to carry out certain policies and projects, “but at the end
disappointed him.”
He said, “Buhari has fallen into their
trap; they must have deceived him that they used money meant for
workers’ salaries to campaign for him and his party and that he must now
save them. But unfortunately, Buhari has spent over N3trn without
appropriation or recourse to other considerations.
“The government claimed the bailout were
loans; but under what conditions were the loans given? What is the mode
and processes of the repayment? In this regard, the President has
started on a very bad note, this is unfortunate and we are going to
suffer for it.”
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