The National Economic Council chaired by Vice President Yemi
Osinbajo on Thursday asked state governors to put machinery in place to cut
cost of governance.
Lagos
State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, briefed State House correspondents at the end
of the meeting held inside the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Ambode
said although they did not design any uniform template on how to reduce cost,
the era of huge percentage of states’ budget being recurrent expenditure was
not acceptable.
He said,
“We resolved that all states should find ways to reduce their cost of
governance.
“We do
not have a uniform template on how to reduce the cost of governance but
it is very clear that states in the specific situations will find different
ways and means of ensuring the cost of running governance is not as huge as it
has always been.
“So, it
is left for the states in their respective situation to find the different ways
of cutting cost but what is important is that we cannot continue with the kind
of huge burden or huge cost we apply to run our government.
“A
situation where you are having a huge percentage of your budget as recurrent
expenditure is obviously not acceptable. And you must look for ways in
reducing the cost of administration in the various states.”
Ambode
said the committee set up by the council during its last meeting to probe the
expenses of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and the Excess Crude
Account under the past administration would submit its report during their next
meeting.
According
to a council document released at the end of the meeting, the council received
a presentation from the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin
Emefiele, on the update of restructuring of bank loans for the states and
payment of salary arrears.
The
governor was said to have informed the council that following meetings with
banks, it was agreed that existing loans should be restructured for the minimum
of 20 years while salary arrears should also be restructured for the minimum of
15 years and not exceed more than 20 years.
He added
that states could opt for either the bond option, which would attract market
rate, or the debt restructuring option, which would attract single digit rate.
“Council
resolved that a four-man team made up of of the governors of Bauchi, Rivers,
Ondo and Osun States are to follow up with the CBN to ensure that the issues of
Excess Crude Collateral for the states are sorted out by next week Tuesday,”
the statement added.
The
document also indicated that a presentation made by the Permanent Secretary,
Ministry of Finance, showed that the Excess Crude Account currently stands at
$2.078 billion.
The
council directed the Committee on ECA to work with the Accountant-General’s
office to resolve the gaps observed in the presentation.
Contact us for Advert Placement:
BBM PIN: 556E312A
WHATSAPP: 08099821118
TWITTER HANDLE: @naijatalkative
EMAIL: naijatalkative@gmail.com
Share this with your friends.
No comments: