The Benue State Commissioner for Finance and Budget planning, Mr. Michael Oglegba said that Benue State Government has saved N1.2bn from the state monthly wage bill following payroll audit. The Commissioner said the figures given by the past administration were not realistic because the Federal allocation for the state stood between N6. %bn and N7bn. The implication of the figures bandied by the former administration was that the entire monthly Federal allocation to the state was not enough to meet the recurrent expenditure. He said when the administration came in; they set up a team to review the wage bill of the state. The team went to the state Universal basic Education Board, Teaching service board and local government councils and wage bills came down drastically.

The commissioner said the immediate past administration said the wage bill was N7Bn, which meant that before the money came it was already spent. It also meant they were unable to meet the liabilities of the state such as the monthly recurrent expenditures. there was zero money available for capital projects. He said ‘’if you hear Alia quote N1.2bn, it means the real position of the wage bill as at the moment of talking. This is because this audit is ongoing. We are not done yet. So why I can’t give you a specific number now is because it is an ongoing process, month by month the wage bill drops’’.

Oglegba said the Government had paid five months of workers’ salaries in the first four months of the administration. In addition, said that salaries are consistently paid on every 25^th of the month even before federal allocation drops. He said that the Governor had done so much in its five months without borrowing to meet its financial obligations like payments of salaries and contractors. He said a headroom was created so that workers’ salaries would be comfortably paid every month before federal allocation drops which is around every 25 to 28 of every month. This simply means that monies meant for salaries were raised before allocation drops. He said it is necessary to clarify that monthly internal generated revenue IGR was enough to pay salaries.

The commissioner said that the federal allocation has not improved in spite of the removal of fuel subsidy by the Federal Government. The Government was only being smart by cutting the cost of governance. He cited an example where Governor Alia changed 1100 KVA line both the state secretariat and Government house that has been since 1980 to 3300. He said 35 million spent monthly on diesel is cut down to 10million for electricity bill. He said with prudence management of resources the state had embarked on the conduction of 16 township in Markudi, installation of streetlights, rehabilitation and remodeling of the state assembly complex and renovation of the state secretariat among others.

SOURCE: PUNCH