Abuja -All Progressives Congress (APC) has hailed President Muhammadu Buhari for coming to the aid of Nigerian workers by approving a relief package for states and local governments to arrears of salaries.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday, APC National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the party was particularly delighted that the president had shown that he was truly the father of the nation.
It stated that the president eschewed partisanship in approving the intervention fund for all states, irrespective of the political party in government.
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The statement said the intervention would make it easier for the states to meet their monthly salary obligations henceforth.
”We say this because, when states were financially handicapped during the tenure of the last Federal Government, opposition states were hung out to dry.
“But states belonging to the then ruling PDP got generous bailouts.
”By his action, Buhari has shown his deep understanding of the essence of governance which, more than anything else, is all about the well-being of the citizenry, ”it said.
The APC commended the special intervention fund approved by the president, saying it was packaged without any external borrowing.
It said that this was done in spite of the paucity of funds occasioned by the fall in the price of crude oil.
It said Buhari had shown that through prudence, financial discipline, plugging financial leakages and a deep sense of patriotism, even the nation’s dwindling resources could be more effectively utilised.
It noted that the intervention was for the benefit of Nigerians rather than for looting by thieving public officials who abused their office.
Also, the statement noted that the president approved a debt relief programme that would help states restructure their commercial loans currently put at over N660 billion.
The implication is that the lifespan of such loans will be extended, while reducing the states’ debt-servicing expenditures, the statement said.
”History is repeating itself before our very eyes. Some 31 years ago, Buhari, then as a military head of state, also inherited a huge national rot.
”It had to approve N480 million for the payment of arrears of workers’ salaries. Truly, the president is a man of destiny,” the statement said. (NAN)
