Chairman of Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) in Kwara State,Abdullateef Okandeji has said the 16 local governments in the state have adopted an "interim measure" to end the salary crisis in the councils.

Speaking with Daily Trust against the backdrop of the challenge confronting the councils in meeting salary obligations, he attributed the problem to the shortfall in federal allocation.

Daily Trust correspondent reports that local governments in the state are owing as much as four months salaries while some have been paying half salaries to their workers from January this year.

Findings by Daily Trust revealed that only Kaiama Local Government is not owing its workers.

However, the ALGON chairman, who is also the Ilorin East Council chairman, disclosed that the councils had adopted a strategy to ensure that whatever amount received monthly by the council in addition to the internal earning is used to pay salaries.

This was the mandate given to managements of all the councils to end the suffering of local government workers in the state, the chairman added. He disclosed that the state government had often assisted the LGs by augmenting the funds meant for salaries, adding however that the state reserve had been exhausted since January.

He said local government workers under the aegis of Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) were not making much noise on the non-payment of salaries since they understood the current challenge.