Osun State’s former Governor, Adegboyega Oyetola, has denied allegations that his administration left Ademola Adeleke with an N76 billion debt in salary and pension arrears.
Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke’s spokesman, Malam Olawale Rasheed, released a statement on Thursday in Osogbo revealing a massive N76 billion debt in unpaid salaries, pensions, and insurance premiums from the administration of Mr Gboyega Oyetola.
On Thursday, he added, the new administration was briefed on the state’s financial situation by Mrs Bimpe Ogunlumade, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Finance.
He itemised the debts: N29,875,191,128.64 in salary; N45,375,237,693.40 in pension arrears; N554,644,028.97 in group life insurance premiums.
The spokesperson stated that the news ran counter to Oyetola’s allegation that he had left the new government N14 billion in cash.
However, in a statement released through his spokesman Ismail Omipidan, Oyetola argued that he owed no salary for the four years he was in office.
“This also explains why we did not witness any industrial dispute for four years. 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,” Omipidan stated.
He added that the pension and gratuity backlog had been reduced thanks to work done by his government.
“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 the 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 the delay in salary payment. And for November’s salary, we signed off on November 20th. I am sure we are in for more drama.”
Post a Comment