The Kwara State government says it is prepared to assist local councils in the State to pay their workers’ salaries on a case by case basis.

The State governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed said this during a joint meeting with the 16 LG chairmen and the officials of the State Chapter of Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE).

The governor frowned at NULGE’s resort to destroying public property and utilizing negative propaganda against the leadership of the State to protest delay in payment of salary.

Governor Ahmed noted that neither the State government nor the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki is responsible for the local council’s inability to pay workers’ salaries as wrongly alleged by the protesters.

He emphasized that the nation is currently going through a recession, which has impacted on allocations going to all tiers of government including local governments, which according to him is responsible for the delay in salary payment.

The governor, however, assured that the State government will consider coming to the aid of the local councils on a case by case basis if they adopt appropriate channels to make their demands.

Continuing, he emphasized that the LGs have varying degrees of salary arrears and therefore, urged their chairmen to approach the State’s Ministry of Finance for assistance on an individual basis.

According to him, the assistance will be considered on the basis of each local government’s peculiar case; State government’s available resources and the provisions of the law, as the 2016 appropriation  makes provision for the State government bailout to LGs.

He urged members of NULGE to either approach the House of Assembly for an amendment in JAAC law if they have any objection to its provisions or approach the Executive arm of government if they object to the implementation of the law.

Governor Ahmed also noted that NULGE members can as well approach the Judiciary for a judicial interpretation of the law guiding JAAC rather than taking the law into their own hands.