AMILOADED MEDIA HUB NEWS UPDATE
The Osun State government has said that the immediate past administration left a debt portfolio of N76bn in unpaid salaries, pensions and insurance commitments.
A statement signed by the spokesperson to the governor, Olawale Rasheed, obtained in Osogbo on Thursday, said the figure was given by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Mrs. Bimpe Ogunlumade, while briefing officials of the new administration on the financial status of the state.
“The breakdown of the salaries and pension-related liabilities as disclosed by the Permanent Secretary are as follows:
“(I) Salary: N29,875,191,128.64
(II) Pension Arrears: N45,375,237,693.40
(III) Group Life Assurance Scheme: N554,644,028.97. Total: N75,805,072,851.01,” the statement read in part.
It further said the disclosure was contrary to the claim by the ex governor, Adegboyega Oyetola, that he left a sum of N14bn in cash for the new government.
The state government stated that the figure was not the total debt left by the past administration, as briefings on other sources of liabilities had not been completed.
Meanwhile, the state governor, Ademola Adeleke has ordered the submission of salary schedule to relevant office within the next 24 hours.
A statement by his spokesperson, Rasheed, stated that Adeleke issued the directive after taking briefing from the State Ministry of Finance.
“Top officials of the ministry had attributed the delay in salary payment to the failure of some agencies to submit their salary schedule on time.
“Governor Adeleke consequently directed immediate conclusion of the processes, affirming that his administration is averse to inconveniences the delay has forced on the state workforce,” the statement concluded.
Oyetola’s Aide Reaction
The Media Aid To Mr Adegboyega Oyetola has refuted the statement released by the Spokesperson to Governor Ademola Adeleke, Mallam Olawale Rasheed which said the immediate past administration of Mr. Adegboyega Oyetola left N76bn debt in salaries, pensions, and insurance commitments.
In a Statement signed by Ismail Omipidan the aid to Mr Oyetola the claim by the Government of Osun that the Adegboyega Oyetola’s administration owed salary arrears and pensions to the tune of over N75 billion is not only outlandish but preposterous.
“Our suspicion is that they have gone to dig up the arrears owed by their partner and collaborator, the settlement of which they used to hoodwink some workers ahead of July 16 governorship contest.
“For the umpteempth time, let me place it on record that for four years, we did not owe a dime in payment of salaries, while we made conscious efforts to reduce the backlog of pensions and gratuities we inherited.
“This also explains why for four years we did not witness any industrial dispute. By their figure, what it means is that we owed salaries for close to one year. Is that possible? The Labour Union can also bear testimony to the fact that we never left any salary unpaid in our time, just as we did not take any bank loan for four years.
“The new Governor and his team want to ride on a populism mantra. Unfortunately, They do not understand the concept and philosophy of populism. That’s why they have resorted to blackmail. On the day of inauguration, the Governor said it would take time for him to pay salaries because he needed to freeze government account to enable him to look at the books. Today, he is saying he frowns at delay in payment of salary. And for November salary, we actually signed off since November 20th. I am sure we are in for more drama.
Leave a Reply