May Day: Ahmed Promises To Use London-  Paris Club Refunds To Clear Salary, Pension Arrears

By Arowona Abdulazeez

The Kwara state governor, Alh  Abdulfatah Ahmed on Monday promised to use the next phase of London-Paris club refunds to pay salary and pension arrears .

Ahmed made the promise during this year’s May Day celebration in Ilorin, the state capital.

Represented by the state’ s Head of Service , Hajia Sarat Umar, the governor said that “when received, a significant proportion of these interventions will go
towards clearing salary and pension arrears, especially at the local government level.”

He added that “while we have augmented local government allocations in the past, it is our belief that local governments in the state require significant
intervention from the federal government to clear the arrears.

“Having complied with the conditions specified by the federal
government for further intervention, I am hopeful that the next
tranche of the Paris Club Loan refunds will soon be made available to
states and local government councils in the country.

“In the interim, I salute you for the commitment and patience in these
hard times. Be rest assured that as your governor I will spare no
effort to bring this crisis to an end in the shortest possible time.”

Earlier, the state chairman of Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Kolawole Olumoh called for the eradication of corruption and injustice in the country.

“There is no way we can build an enduring peace and egalitarian society without making conscious and sincere effort to resolve and eradicate these social menace of corruption, injustice, misgovernance, inequality and selfish desire in the scheme of things for our country to move forward.

“Change of orientation of the ruled and the rulers for God to save and protect our given nation is sacrosanct.”

The chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in the state, AbdulYekeen Agunbiade attributed security challenges in the country to age-long interplays in the country’s polity, unemployment and inter-ethnic intolerance.