The Ekiti chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused the state governor, Ayodele Fayose, of not telling the truth about the financial status of the state which has been his excuse for not paying workers salary.
As stated by the APC, the governor’s message to the civil servants that they should not expect salary in January was a mark of his uncaring attitude to workers, stressing that the current allocation to Ekiti State is enough to pay workers’ salary.
APC Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun, stated in a statement that the October statutory federal allocation to the state and local governments totaling N3.6 billion was more than enough to address workers’ pay.
The statement said: “A governor that sacked thousands of workers, cut running grants to civil servants, refused to fund security agencies despite collecting monthly personal security vote of N250 million, refused to pay pensioners and stop monthly social security stipends to the elderly” should have enough money to pay salaries.
Olatunbosun accused the governor of failing to comply with the Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEC guidelines, including paying counterpart fund, saying that was responsible for banning the state from accessing Federal intervention fund to run primary schools.
“He has also refused to pay counterpart fund in the running of the Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), the result of which has forced pupils to be paying fees in primary schools,” he explained.
Olatunbosun accused the governor of refusing to pay counterpart fund in the World Bank-Assisted Ekiti State Community And Social Development Agency (EKCSDA), saying that at present, all development initiatives of the agency were at standstill while its workers were being owed several months in salary arrears.
But the state Commissioner for Information, Mr. Lanre Ogunsuyi, stated the government did not issue any circular to tell workers they would not get their salary, but explained that “what we know is that we may not be able to pay as and when due because of the state of the Nigerian economy which the president himself has amplified.”