Paper review: Salary crisis hits 27 states

The newspapers for today, April 8 focus on an array of issues ranging from the looming salary crisis in states across the nation to President Buhari getting the details of 2016 budget among others. 

The inability of several states of the federation to pay workers’ salaries is threatening to cause between civil servants and the state governments.

The Punch reports that the situation has resulted in strikes by the labour movement in several states, as the civil servants in many states have declared their intention to go on strike, while some just suspended their strike in some states.

No fewer than 27 states of the federation are finding it difficult to pay workers’ salaries according to disclosure by President Muhammadu Buhari who lamented the precarious state of the nation’s economy, in an address to the national executive council members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) recently.

Vanguard reports that President Muhammadu Buhari and his ministers are studying the details of the 2016 budget sent to the presidency by the National Assembly on Wednesday April 6.

Sources told the newspaper that the aim of studying the document presented by the NASS by the executive was to compare what was eventually approved with what was sent in by the president.

As part of the check process, the ministers were expected to examine the budget of their respective MDAs to see whether there was a substantial addition or subtraction which could adversely affect implementation.

Still on the 2016 budget, The Guardian reports that the budget copy was received on behalf of the president by his chief of staff, Malam Abba Kyari at the state house.

A senior special assistants to the president on National Assembly, Abdulrahman Kawu Sumaila said the president is ready to sign into law and commence the implementation of the budget within a very short period.

He said Buhari’s concern for the country’s masses whose lives he had vowed to impact on positively was why the president wanted the budget implemented as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said this year’s budget will stimulate the economy rather than impose undue austerity on the citizens.

Speaking at The Nation’s First National Economic Forum in Lagos, Osinbajo said the Buhari administration plans to boost the Nigerian economy through private sector stimulation and diversification of the economy to the non-oil sector.

“It is pathetic that a nation with over 170 million people benchmarked its budget on the price of oil. We must look beyond oil because it disturbs us from looking at other sectors. In order to move the country forward, we must reduce the Federal Government’s and states’ dependence on sharing revenue made from oil sales.”

He said the government was working to confront the challenges confronting Nigerians through ongoing reforms in various sectors of the economy.

Meanwhile, the minister of state for petroleum resources and group managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Ibe Kachikwu has described the current fuel scarcity experienced across the nation as the most challenging issue since he assumed duty as the GMD and minister of state for petroleum, Sun reports.

He blamed the persistent fuel scarcity on the unavailability of foreign exchange (Forex), lack of capacity, activities of pipeline vandals as well as the reduction in subsidy payment.

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