Speaking to a group of journalists on Sunday in Abuja, Governor Yuguda said for now each state government will look into its various revenue sources and sit down with the Labour unions to appraise the do-ability of the proposal and arrive at a position where the trio of the civil service, government and the public will be happy at the end.
“We have deliberated and agreed that it is something that is doable when able. As far as I am concerned 1800 is even too small for the average Nigerian worker. So if we can even afford more, we should do it. We will look at the various avenues of generating revenue, after all, the Labour themselves know those sources; they know how much we get and how much we pay out for services. We pay for security; we run schools, hospitals; we create jobs and so on. So there are so many competing needs for this small resource,” he said.
The governor, however, observed that for now, there are states whose financial capacity can enable the payment of more than 18,000 and urged them to do so. He stressed that if Bauchi State has such status he will approve a sum above 18,000.
According to him, “Every state should sit down with Labour and bring out its balance sheet, your income, your expenditure. These are mandatory expenditures: salaries, wages, hospitals, schools and provision of water. These are all necessities and we have to pay them just like we are paying salaries. If we don’t buy alum and provide fuel for generators to pump water into Bauchi, there won’t be water supply in Bauchi. So do you want us to give you the money and stop pumping water?”
He therefore challenged Labour unions to support the programme of deregulation which will translate into more funds for state governments to pay increased salaries and fund development projects to the satisfaction of the public.
He said rather than help the ordinary Nigerians, the subsidy on petroleum products have only continued to line the pockets of few Nigerians.
“Deregulation is a necessity, a sine qua non for development of this country. People are taking funds from petroleum products that are pumped through non existing pipes. 6000 to 7000 billion is going into a few hands and they are buying Yachts and sky skyscrapers in renowned cities of the world, building financial empires at the expense of the poor man working on the street.”
Governor Yuguda noted that the country needs to build a middle class which will have the purchasing power to consume products to be produced by small and medium scale industries which various governments are working on. He said one way is by increasing workers’ pay but that is only possible with increased revenue for the various tiers of government.
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