Oyo State government has decried a report that it has not paid its workers since the beginning of this year.
Recall that a survey conducted by BudgIT, said workers in Benue, Kogi, Abia, Oyo, Ondo and Ekiti State have not received salaries in 2017. The civic tech organisation, in a statement on Tuesday, said up to 20 states owed their workers, including pensioners their entitlements ranging from one to 36 months.
Lagos, Kano, Sokoto and others are the only states not owing workers in the survey.
But a statement yesterday by Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, ‘Toye Arulogun, said the state was shocked by reading the report.
It said: “The Oyo State Government has observed with dismay a news report with the headline, ‘Kogi, Abia, Oyo among six states that ‘haven’t paid workers in 2017’ in a news medium which is well respected by the Oyo State government.
”We consider the medium a reliable and credible source of information; it has earned its pedigree from professional conduct and due diligence in its reporting.
“We are, however, shocked that a medium of such repute published a story that Oyo is one of the states that have not paid salaries this year, based on a survey by a civic tech company called BudgIT.
“The quoted survey is faulty in its findings with a wide error margin, given the facts on the ground in relation to Oyo State. The reality on the ground casts serious doubts on the authenticity of the report. The methodology and approach of such a survey is questionable as the result is not in tandem with facts”.
Reacting, a source in BudgIT Friday morning, lambasted Oyo for “making claims without proof”.
The source told DAILY POST on condition of anonymity that the organisation had heard the opposition to its report by Oyo and dared the government to provide proof.
”What we do is that we send people to states to investigate in a discreet manner. You won’t even know we are there. Most of states were shocked when they saw the report.
“Findings like this, is not what we announce to avoid attacks or manipulations whatsoever by states. We stand by our report in its entirety.
”If Oyo is saying they have paid, they should provide proof to justify. Attacking BudgIT and media houses is not the way to go”, the source said.
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