With barely less than 150-days to next year’s general elections, some state governments are still indebted to their workers-serving and retired-despite receiving tranches of Paris Club funds in billions. Some governors have embarked on desperate moves to settle the backlogs for ‘political’ reasons.

It was barely eleven days to the conduct of the just concluded governorship election in Osun State when Governor Rauf Aregbesola reportedly released the sum of N19.8bn as payment to workers and pensioners who had hitherto been owed in arrears for over 10 months.

According to Daily Trust, many other state governors who owe workers’ salaries and retirees’ pension arears running into billions are making desperate moves to assuage the workers in their respective states.

Some of these states are Kogi, Benue, Nasarawa, Bayelsa, and Kwarra.

However, with barely less than 150 days to the conduct of the 2019 general elections, there are indications that such governors may be stepping into the election year with huge backlog of unpaid salaries.

•Excerpted from a Daily Trust report