Overdue Debt Repayment Weak In Most States – DMO Warns

The Director-General, Debt Management Office, Patience Oniha has revealed what threatens debt sustainability in some states in Nigeria.

According to Oniha, the difficulty of some state governments in paying arrears has threatened the level of debt sustainability in some states.

Oniha disclosed this in a presentation document titled ‘Paths to sustainable debt management: the SFTAS approach.’

Oniha was represented by Isiaku Mohammed during the workshop for finance journalists in Abuja by the State Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability Office.

According to Punch, the likes of Kano, Benue, Osun, Delta, Ekiti, Ondo, Ogun, Rivers and Kwara as of September last year were owing pensioners.

Many of these affected pensioners were dying without receiving their entitlements.

Officials of the Nigerian Union of Pensioners and Labour Leaders noted that some state governments aside from failing to remit the contributory pensions, retirees on the defined benefit scheme are being owed.

Officials of state government in their reaction attributed the delay in paying pensioners to the poor economy of the country.

They assured the pensioners that the entitlements would be paid as soon as their cash flow improved.

It was gathered that some state workers as of Monday had not been paid their salary, while pensioners are yet to receive their gratuities and other entitlements.

Labour leaders in Ekiti, Benue, Ogun, Ondo, Rivers, Abia, Ondo, Edo and Kano state in their reaction to the failure of state governments to pay said pensioners are worst hit by the failure of governors to perform their responsibilities.

There are indications that the deductions by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited from the Federation Account Allocation Committee had continued to deplete the funds being shared by the three tiers of government at FAAC meetings.

The NNPC had explained that its deductions from FAAC were due to the humongous subsidy spending it shouldered.

This article was originally published on Nigeria News

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