FCT Minister Turns ‘Father Christmas’ To Councils As He Gives Them Bail-Out To Pay Wages

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FC), Malam Muhammad Musa Bello has announced a bailout fund to be extended to troubled FCT Area Councils to enable them pay two months salary arrears to their workers.
This is even as he mandated the Area Councils to look inward and immediately clear the remaining one-month for equity.
The minister who spoke through his media team during an interactive session with members of the FCT Press Corps said however said that the National Assembly would have to approve the virement to accommodate such request first since FCT Administration has no provision for Area Councils’ staff salaries.
He said that the FCT Administration has structured the repayment plan for the bailout to be from the 10 percent statutory payment to the Area Councils from the FCTA’s Internally Generated Revenue.
He said that to ensure that these funds were judiciously spent, the FCT Administration would constitute a panel to conduct Personnel Audit of the Local Education Authority.
Muhammad Bello said that about 90 percent of allocation from the federation account to the FCT Area Councils have been going to the Primary Schools.
The minister also announced that the FCT Administration would look into the budgetary system of the FCT Area Councils, adding that the way they are designed is the beginning of the problem at the local level.
He said that FCT Administration has recently cleared outstanding debt of over N250 million owed the cleaning and security contractors working in the FCT District and General Hospitals; and that the debt cleared was for services provided for up to December 2015.
He said that the Administration has equally extended the services of those contractors to December 2016 to allow for room to plan for new engagement as from 2017 fiscal year.
Muhammad Bello said that soon, the FCT Administration would fumigate the entire Territory as a way of eliminating rodents and minimize any possibility of Lassa fever.
The minister said that the action would go along way in improving the environment and reducing the incidences of avoidable diseases.
On Avian Influenza, he said that the Administration has been able to stamp out the bird flu because no new case has been reported since February 9 this year. [myad]