The co-founder of BudgIT, Seun Onigbinde has said that some states will continue to owe workers’ salaries because the monthly allocation from the federation account is barely enough to meet their needs.
According to him, the situation will not abate until Nigeria restructures to put an end to what he described as ‘feeding bottle federalism’ currently in place in the country.
The data analyst expressed this view on Tuesday night while featuring on Channels Television’s political programme ‘Politics Today’ from the United States, via Skype.
Onigbinde’s views came a day after President Muhammadu Buhari appealed to governors to address the plight of workers in their states by paying salaries.
“What you call the ‘feeding bottle federalism’ that we have as a country, I think that’s the biggest problem.
“The problem won’t abate because the dependence of states on federal allocation is a problem here. I think that’s what President Muhammadu Buhari needs to face and tackle squarely,” he added.
“So, even if you pay your backlog, what happens now when the allocations that are given to states are not still enough to pay workers’ salaries?
“According to a recent research, at least 10 states are still owing workers salaries. We are certain that Benue and Abia are still owing workers salaries and in the South-West, there are still backlogs in Ondo, Oyo,” he said.
“For Osun, it has adopted what they call ‘salary modulation’, but there are still pensioners who are still owed for several months.
“So across the nation, even in Niger, Nasarawa, there are still some workers who are being owed,” Onigbinde said.
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