File: Kogi workers blocking Abuja-Lokoja highway on 17 September over non payment of salaries

The Kogi  state Government, in central Nigeria, said on Thursday that N45 billion of the N50.9 billion its bailout money would be spent on the payment of outstanding salaries of 21 local government councils’ workers.

The Deputy Governor, Mr Yomi Awoniyi, made the disclosure in Lokoja in a statement by his Press Secretary, Mr Mike Abu.

The statement said that he made the clarification during a stakeholders meeting with members of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ihima, Okehi Local Government Council.

It said that the balance of N5.9 billion would be used to pay the August and September salaries of workers in the state civil service.

The statement said that Awoniyi while confirming that the total money due to the state was N50.9 billion, said the challenges facing its early release was being resolved.

It appealed to workers to exercise more patience, saying that they would be the greatest beneficiaries of the funds when it was finally released.

It attributed the inability to pay workers to a sharp drop in the allocation from the federation account and dismissed the insinuations of mismanagement being speculated in some quarters.

The statement said that Awoniyi used the visit to commend the people of the state’s Central Senatorial District for their mature conduct in the just-concluded governorship primary of the APC.

It noted that the action had further reinforced the confidence of the leadership of the party in the people of the area.