We had only N200m left after paying salaries during first term, says Gov AbdulRazaq

Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq on Saturday said the state had only about N200 million left from federal allocation after paying workers’ salaries during his first term in office, blaming the situation on what he described as years of economic strain before recent federal reforms.

The governor, however, said the situation had improved significantly under the economic policies introduced by President Bola Tinubu, noting that states now have more resources for infrastructure development and workers’ welfare.

Speaking with journalists shortly after the All Progressives Congress presidential primary election at his Adewole Ward in Ilorin West Local Government Area, AbdulRazaq said many states previously relied on borrowing to meet salary obligations and execute projects.

“We were coming from an era of no payment of salaries and near-collapsed economy. Things have changed. In my first term, after paying salaries from federal allocation, all we had left was about N200m. Things have changed due to the reforms the president has implemented. This has given more resources to the states,” he said.

The governor said the improved fiscal situation had reduced dependence on loans and bonds by state governments.

“Now, you don’t hear that states are borrowing to pay salaries. That wasn’t the case before. Then, many states had to borrow money, we had to issue bonds to drive capital projects in my first term. Now, we are not talking about that anymore. We have enough resources to easily pay workers’ salary and we are even paying back loans, while also developing infrastructure,” he added.

AbdulRazaq also disclosed that Kwara State’s debt profile had reduced from about N170 billion to N49 billion within two years, despite ongoing infrastructure projects across the state.

“Kwara came back from about N170bn debt and liabilities to about N49bn in a space of two years. These are some things that people need to see. The economy is doing better, and that is why we need to sustain the policies to drive the economy and developments across board,” he said.

The governor maintained that visible development projects across the state reflected the impact of the current economic policies.

“For people who haven’t visited the state in a long time, they will see a lot of changes in the state. Things have drastically changed for the better,” he said.

On the APC presidential primary election, AbdulRazaq described the outcome as a strong endorsement of President Tinubu’s leadership and programmes.

“It’s a full endorsement of the President’s programmes. I would have thought that after a series of primaries, beginning with the House of Representatives and House of Assembly, the Governorship, members of our party will be tired and just assume that the President has won and will sit at home. But that’s not the case. They’ve shown that they are in full support of the President. They’ve come out to show that today, and there was no apathy at all,” he said.

According to him, President Tinubu secured unanimous support in the state during the exercise.

“We have two contestants in this election — President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Mr Stanley Osifo. We gave our full support to Mr President throughout the state. The other aspirant did not get any vote. It is a full endorsement of the president,” he said.