Ekiti State government has said it has paid the entitlements of the All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers.
The government, in a statement yesterday by the Commissioner for Finance, Toyin Ojo, said the lawmakers duly acknowledged receipt of cheques for the payments last Wednesday.
The statement reads: “We would have remained silent in deference to the agreement reached at the last Monday meeting in Akure, the Ondo State capital, that all parties should be silent on the outcome of the meeting.
“This was especially so because the lawmakers said they do not want their leaders to know the outcome of the meeting.
”However, since the lawmakers have chosen not to abide by this agreement by first issuing a statement to deny and reveal what was discussed at the meeting, and now going to the press to say that they have not received any payment, the government does not have any other option than to tell the public the truth and set the records straight.
“The government is by this statement putting the records straight since the money paid to the lawmakers belong to Ekiti people.
“They were isssued cheques because the lawmakers pleaded that their accounts should not be credited directly so as to prevent the banks from making deductions for loans taken.
“Saying that they have not been paid is quite unfortunate and unbecoming of honourable members of the House of Assembly and this is sad.
“We will want to keep our fingers crossed and we wish to caution the lawmakers to adhere strictly to the spirit of the agreements.
“Governor Fayose’s good gesture aimed at ensuring peace in the state should not be abused.”
However, the 19 All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers in the Ekiti State House of Assembly have refuted the report that Governor Ayodele Fayose had paid their outstanding salaries and allowances.
They claimed that the embargo on their salaries and allowances has not been lifted, adding that the payment or non-payment of their financial entitlements cannot prevent them from defending the constitution which they swore to protect.
A statement by Speaker Adewale Omirin's Special Adviser on Media, Wole Olujobi, said the report was mischievous, lacking the basic tenet of journalism to always report facts in place of rumours and unfounded allegations.
The lawmakers said: “It is shocking that the reporter chose not to believe us but overzealously believe in the purported sources that thrive on falsehood, lies and propaganda.
“The reporter in one breath said his investigation revealed that the lawmakers had been paid, yet he reported that both Fayose and the lawmakers did not confirm the report as they refused to talk to him.
“If this were the case, then who are the sources that confirmed to the reporter that the lawmakers had been paid?
“To make matters worse, contrary to the reporter’s claim that we did not talk to him, we told him at our end that we have not been paid.
“Apart from getting this fact from us, the Speaker’s media aide told him the same and so we are surprised that the reporter is claiming that he received no information from us.
“In fact, as at Saturday night, the alerts we received from our bank were debit alerts and so we wonder where the reporter got his story.
“It is unfortunate that just because the reporter wanted to file an exclusive report for his paper, he went ahead to report this falsehood motivated by blackmail.
“Let us even agree without conceding that we were paid our lawful entitlements, what favour does the governor do to us by that after illegally cutting short our tenure by seven months and putting us in harrowing inconveniences in addition to his brazen rape on the constitution?
“Must payment of our legal entitlements prevent us from defending the constitution which we swore to protect?
“Where are the indications of payment when embargo is placed on our accounts by the governor? Even those who should know in government are wondering where the reporter got his story because there was never any payment to the lawmakers.
“This is irresponsible journalism at its worst and it is unfortunate that this is coming from a reputable medium.
“We know that this is exactly what the governor would be telling the press when he conceded to pay us to forgo resuming our duties, which we rejected.
“When the reporter was calling the Speaker, his media aide and later the lawmakers, the response he got was that they had not received any alert.
“In fact as we speak, the governor‘s embargo is still on our accounts and nobody has been notified that he or she has been paid and so we wonder where the reporter got his information.”