FG Borrows N600bn Annually To Augment Payment Of Salaries – SGF

Babachir David Lawal-SGFThe federal government borrows an average of N600 billion annually to augment payment of workers’ salaries, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation David Lawal Babachir, disclosed on Tuesday.
Mr. Babachir made the disclosure at the opening ceremony of the 63rd General Church Council (GCC) of Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) in Jos, Plateau State, where he represented President Muhammadu Buhari.
“The federal government gets N130 billion, and sometimes if it is lucky, it gets N200 billion from federation allocation, and we have an expenditure profile of roughly N800 billion to N900 billion. Naturally, you need to augment sources from everywhere and from wherever you can find it”, Babachir said.
“I’m talking about local borrowings, not international. There are ways and means to raise the money, because the monies coming from the federal allocation are not enough and the figures are not fixed; it varies from month to month, depending on what enters into the treasury and our own share of it from federation account, just like the states”, he added.
The SGF painted a gloomy picture for some states in respect of salaries payment in the next four months, citing Osun as an example.
“Just like in the states, you remember Osun state got N55million in a month from the federal allocation and the state has a salary bill of over N4 billion in a month”, Babachir noted.
However, he urged all faith-based organizations and traditional institutions to sensitize the citizens on the need to exercise patience, saying the Buhari administration inherited an ailing economy which has to be nurtured for some time before it stabilizes.
Earlier the ECWA President, Rev. Jeremiah Gado, said all Christians were praying for Buhari to succeed.