A Civil Society Organization, CSO, known as the Civil Societies Coalition for the Emancipation of Osun State, CSCEOS, has frowned at the Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola for claiming his administration has spent N14.2bn on payment of modulated salaries and pensions of workers and retirees in the last two weeks.
The group described Aregbesola as a “serial and pathological liar.”
Aregbesola had claimed that under his watch, his government spent N14.2billon for the payment of salaries, pensions of workers’ and retirees alike with the balance of three months leave bonus in December 2016.
In a statement signed by its Chairman, Comrade Adeniyi, Alimi Sulaiman, and made available to DAILY POST, the CSO insisted that the State government just spent only N4.5billion on modulated pensions and salaries with the leave bonus to the affected retirees and workers.
The body described Aregbesola’s claim as a mere Propaganda to cover up the “illegal diversion of over N7billion of N11.744bilion out of N84billion Paris Club funds accrued to the State by the Federal Government.”
Frowning at the alleged lie of the governor, the CSO said this “singular action of Aregbesola has told the good people of the State what they should be expecting in the year 2017 as governance style of the State would be laced with propaganda and lies.”
The statement said despite the huge sums received in the last six months, the Aregbesola’s administration still owes workers between eight to ten months salaries.
“Upon the various funds received in the last six months, the State government under Aregbesola still owing the workers and retirees alike to the tune of 8 to 10 months arrears of salaries and pensions with gratuities respectively,” Sulaiman said.
Sulaiman said the governor, “lacked moral and financial justification to spend N14.2billion on payment of four months and a half salaries when the State government would use only N2.3 billion for the monthly payment of full salaries and pensions.”
The statement quoted the organisation as alleging that Aregbesola has been working contrary to the “Biblical and Quranic injunctions of Deuteronomy Chapter 24 vrs 14 and Suratul Nahli 16 vrs 90 -91, Suratul Sariyathi 51 vrs 8-11 & Suratul Maidah 5 vrs 51-52 and as well as Constitutional provision of section 14,15,16,17, &210 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on the plight of the State workforce and retirees alike.”
The statement urged the “workers and retirees alike and by extension, the good people of Osun State, not to be deceived by the misleading figures of the State government to pay modulated half salaries of four months with N14.2billion, after having the Ecological funds, Budget Support funds, Local Government funds, N3.5billion Bailout funds balance, State Allocations accrued to the State from the Federation Account and Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) in the State treasury in the last six months.”
CSCEOS insisted that the State government has, “enough funds to offset the 8 to 10 months outstanding salaries and pensions arrears without further delaying.”
It challenged the government to come out from its “shell to disclose the actual amount of the monthly payment of full salaries and pensions in the State after the conduct of the 2015 Screening exercise.”
The group also called on the government to publish how every fund “accrued to the State government from the Federation Account was being spent in order to make the government accountable to the mass of our people as being demanded by the ethos of democracy and international best practices.”
Commentaires