I Have Done Well – Gov Aregbesola Says Despite Owing Seven Months Salaries

Despite his failure to pay state workers for the past seven months, Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State has said that his administration has performed excellently well since his assumption of office in for a second term in August 2014.

Governor Rauf Aregbesola

Speaking in Osogbo on Tuesday through a statement issued by his media aide, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, during a courtesy visit to him by the Osun Action Strategy and Development Group, Aregbesola hailed the way his government has performed creditably well despite the financial shortage it is experiencing.

Daily Post quotes him saying, “Despite the financial shortage, even the most virulent critics of this government cannot deny that the administration has performed creditably well.

“This government built roads, schools, supplied students with Opon Imo (Tablets of Knowledge), distributed uniforms to all public students in the state, created welfare programmes for the old and vulnerable people as well as supporting farmers.

“No state has done what Osun did in the area of security, which today has totally checked crimes and other anti-social activities in the state. Huge amount of money was committed to purchasing armoured personnel carrier and ambulances which are strategically located in the state and responding to distress calls round the clock.

“If all the programmes, with huge cost involved, are factored into the accruable revenue of the state, it will be crystal clear why the state is where it is today.”

The governor alleged that the numerous oil thefts under the PDP, in which the nation was losing 400, 000 barrels per day, caused a drastic reduction of oil price in the international market which snowballed into economic disaster and strain for state governments and workers in the country.

READ ALSO: Sell Helicopter And Stop Frivolous Trips To Cuba – PDP Tells Aregbesola

Aregbesola said Osun received N5bn as monthly allocation in February 2013 but N540m was paid to the state government in April 2015.

He added, “As we are trying to find solution to these challenges, we must not also run away from what brought us to this situation.

“For those who think this is an opportunity to pillory us in this economic condition, I pity them. Only God does not fail. We shall overcome; we shall recover from this challenge. I sympathise and feel for the workers. I appeal to them to bear with us as we work assiduously to end this problem. I assure them that the period of agony will soon be over.

“It is disheartening for people to work and such work fails to translate into wages. It is a harrowing experience for both workers and the government.”

Aregbesola has come for a lot of criticism from within and outside the state for the way he has managed the state resources.

On Tuesday,  the Governor, dared the Osun state chapter of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) to go ahead with its threats to publish his assets.

The SDP had said  private investigations indicated the governor had acquired illegal wealth in the state in the past four years.

To ease the troubles of unpaid workers, Olumuyiwa Emmanuel, the state pastor of the Living Faith Church, the Winners’ Chapel, has appealed to members of the church to bring money and foodstuff for the workers.

Two weeks ago,  Osun State labour unions declared a total strike to press home their demand for payment of their then six-month salaries which in June is now seven months.

The strike began on Tuesday, May 26, after the expiration of a 14-day ultimatum given to the state government.

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