A total of N23.5 billion came into the coffers of Bayelsa State government from the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) as allocations for the months of June and July.
Commissioner for finance, Maxwell Ebibai, who made the disclosure in a statement on Monday, said the state had earlier received N12.7 billion as June allocation before N10.8 billion in July.
Ebibai said though there was a shortfall of about N2 billion in the July allocation, the state government would give priority to the payment of workers’ salaries in consonance with the emphasis placed on workers by the administration.
He said ongoing capital projects would attract priority attention before other state expenses would be treated on their scale of importance, and that the disclosure was in line with the transparency policy of the administration.
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He recalled that the state government had to generate funds through alternative sources to pay June salaries and other duties due to the delay in resolving issues at the FAAC meeting in June.
In his words: “Last month, the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee meeting was delayed. But the state government generated funds to pay workers’ salaries and other responsibilities of government through alternative sources of revenue. That was an expression of commitment.
“The state got N12.7 billion for the month of June and N10.8 billion for July. The June receipts indicated a shortfall of about N2.0 billion in federal receipts for the month of July.
“In line with our covenant with workers, their salaries would be on first line charge. Our capital projects would also get attention. Other expenses will be treated on a case by case basis.”
He said the shortfall in federal receipts had brought to the fore the fragile state of the economy in spite of the massive drive to boost the internally generated revenue profile of the state.
He called for further commitment and efforts from stakeholders to give the deserved attention to the creation of a sustainable financial base, which would not be dependent on FAAC allocations and the need to manage the cost of doing business in the state.
The commissioner also called on the citizenry to ensure prompt payment of their taxes in the interest of the development of the state.
