IN view of the sharp drop in oil revenue, the Federal Government has advised state governors to borrow a leaf from its austerity measures and make salaries the priority in the scheme of things.

All Progressives Congress (APC) governors, who met with the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari at the Defence House, Abuja on Tuesday, had harped on salary arrears owed by states and the need for the incoming administration to address salient economic issues causing financial difficulties for the three tiers of government.

Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, who is also the Chairman of the APC Governors Forum, in his remarks, made allusions that the Federal Government had not paid salaries for the month of April.

But the Co-ordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, in a statement signed and electronically sent to The Guardian by her Special Adviser, Mr. Paul Nwabuikwu, refuted Okorocha’s claims, describing it as ‘incorrect.’

The minister specifically said that “staff salaries at the federal level are up to date; workers have received their April salaries.”

The statement reads in part: “This is to clarify the misinformation put forward by certain governors to the effect that Federal workers are being owed salaries…this is incorrect…”

On difficulties in salary payment, as noted by the governors, the Finance Minister said, “certain governors are trying to blame the Federal for their predicament. This is wrong.”

Okonjo-Iweala, stressed that the Federal Government, through the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC), had advised the governors to prioritise salaries, an advice they ignored. According to her, rather than heed the advice to pay salaries as priority, many of the state governors “chose not to do so, hence the backlog that some states are experiencing.”

She explained that the 50 per cent drop in revenues due to the drop in the prices of international crude oil simply meant that “salaries should be prioritised.”

he, therefore, argued that “the Federal Government should not be blamed for avoidable mistakes made at state level.”