As the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) continue to argue over the debt profile of the state, Davou Mang, commissioner for Finance, said the debt which some put at N100 billion or N200 billion is only “an imaginary figure” as the actual debt stands at over N50 billion. Mang, who said that the fall in crude oil price has drastically affected the revenue base of the state, explained that the debt incurred by the state government was used for road construction and other projects in the state.
Explaining the government’s inability to pay workers’ salaries for three months and pension for some time now, Mang appealed that workers be patient as it is a “transition period”. “If workers decide to go on strike, we will be harming ourselves and we will not be able to target revenue; that is why we are asking for understanding because this government has been responsible. When this government came into power in 2007, it inherited salary arrears of six months, leave grants for up to three years, teachers’ salaries and pensions from the 1970s, the government kept the faith and cleared these arrears”. “Believing government is a continuum we cleared these arrears and gradually began to pay gratuities.
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If you want to rate government in terms of performance you have to see the historical basis and not just look at the transition period shock of drop in oil price and begin to rate the faithful government,” he further explained. Mang reiterated that when Governor Jang came to power he’s restructured the Plateau State Board of Internal Revenue (PSBIR) which is now yielding better results, established the Plateau Geographic Information System (PLAGIS) where some land reforms have been made so that people can begin to pay land rents, title fees and Certificate of Occupancy. “Some people have stayed in their houses for 20 years without paying anything.
When this project is completed by the first quarter of this year, we should be able to rake in a reasonable Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to cushion the effect of lapses in the Federation Account. We intend to sufficiently generate revenue to treat current issues and not to run into the same in the future”. Similarly, the gubernatorial candidate of the PDP Gyang Pwajok while speaking at a media forum organized by the correspondent chapel of NUJ in Jos said that the debt profile of Plateau does not necessarily mean that funds have been mismanaged. Stating that Plateau State has established a debt management office where debt profile would be officially declared, Pwajok said: “The existence of debt does not mean mismanagement of fund as it is evident in the kind of infrastructure and development in the state”
