President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday directed the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, to immediately release the second tranche of the London-Paris Club refunds to the state governments 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 in Abuja, 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.
The President, who went round the Council Chambers to greet the governors one after another, praised the unity of the Nigeria Governors Forum, and thanked them 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, the President said 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.”
In his remarks, chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, Governor Abdul-Aziz Yari of Zamfara state assured the President that they would 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 sttates thanked the President 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, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, whom they said did not disappoint when he acted as President.
