By Halimat Isah.
Government’s inability to pay it’s Civil Servants in Kogi regularly was due to the huge debt incurred for the State by the past People’s Democratic Party’s (PDP) administrations, Governor Yahaya Bello has said.
The Governor lamented that the debt which was incurred unnecessarily without anything to show for it by former Governors Alhaji Ibrahim Idris and Alhaji Idris Wada has put heavy financial strain on the State Government as over N800m is used on monthly basis from the wage bill to service it.
Governor Bello who made this known at the official flag-off ceremony of the Anchor Borrowers Programme, an agricultural scheme, on Tuesday in Government House, Lokoja, said Ibro and Wada collected the loan of over N3bn without utilising it for the benefit of the State.
He added that the loan is a clog in his administration’s wheel of progress, saying his government is paying dearly for it.
Explaining further, Governor Bello said the sum of 2billion naira meant for Small and Medium Entrepreneurship Scheme for citizens was collected by the then government and another 1billion naira was collected and shared amongst few corrupt individuals.
“This government is paying dearly for the money that was not utilised for the benefit of the masses. It is part of the hardship this system is being confronted with” he lamented.
According to the Governor, the negative decisions taken by previous administrations have had a negative effect on his administration.
He reiterated his administration’s willingness to double it’s efforts in order to boost the economy and ensure that the suffering of the people is alleviated, saying that the New Direction Government will leave no stone unturned in addressing their plights.
Governor Bello commended President Muhammadu Buhari for designing the agricultural scheme in such a way that the elites would not hijack the opportunity from the downtrodden who are the targeted beneficiaries.
