Yahaya Bello, Governor of Kogi State, has said his government is still paying salaries and repaying debts despite limited resources occasioned by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Bello stated this in a television interview on Monday while giving an appraisal of his government.
According to Governor Bello, his administration has been prudent with the management of the state resources to the benefit of the people.
He explained that critics of the state government should commend efforts made in addressing the numerous challenges facing the state.
“In this COVID-19 regime, we are paying salaries, projects are ongoing, all our obligations and the indebtedness that we inherited, we are paying steadily,” Governor Bello said on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
“We are not going to take more than N1billion per month. That is financial prudence that in this era that resources are dwindling, Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) has nosedived, inflows from the federation account has really nosedived.
“We are paying back our loans; we are paying all other loans. Yet we are meeting up with all our obligations and projects are ongoing.”
When asked why some Kogi workers still receive part payment of their salaries, the governor neither confirmed nor denied it.
He simply replied: “I am not aware of anybody that is being paid percentage of their salaries. The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and other organised labours are there.
“On a monthly basis, we are meeting up with our financials, our salary obligations and other contractual agreements are being met on a monthly basis.”
