The ongoing Osun State government’s inability to pay worker’s salaries may have taken a turn for the worse as the state governor, Rauf Aregbesola, on Friday, June 12, 2015 announced that the situation was absolutely out of his control.
Governor Aregbesola made this declaration in an interview with newsmen in Abuja after his ‘closed door’ meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at Defence House. He asserted that the “quagmire” he found himself in was a heart rending one as he was not happy.
He described it as a situation were the head of the house felt inadequate if he couldn’t meet the demands and needs of his family.
Aregbesola said, “No head of the family will be happy that he cannot feed members of the family. It is heart-rending that I am in this quagmire.
“But no matter how sad, no matter how unhappy I am, the truth is that I will not fail to say that it is a situation absolutely beyond my control.
“I led an administration in receipt of regular allocation in which I do my budget. Unfortunately, this allocation started falling in rapid form that totally disorganised my budget and any other arrangement.”
In his defemce, Aregbesola enjoined the people to appreciate the fact that he had transformed Osun state from what he met when he came to power in 2010. The transformation, he said, was as a result of effectively applying resources. He further explained that the reason for the dislocation in the administration was as a result of an unexpected and sharp decline in revenue allocation.
He said, “Were it to be Osun State alone, probably I would not have an excuse. I pray it does not continue. I am not sure if there will be any state that will actually escape from the biting effect of the absolute sharp drop which I call economic disaster that we are grappling with.
“Since my inauguration on November 27, 2010, I had made it a duty to pay salary on or before 25th of every month up until January 2014 when that became practically impossible.
“I have been giving the same staff who today are, regrettably and painfully, not being paid annual bonus that we call 13th month salary. There was no demand for it. I just felt that workers must be encouraged, they must be inspired.
“I did that religiously and faithfully from 2010 to 2013. The development that led to this began precisely in July when we received the June allocation and it was short by 40 per cent.
“Since then, what we have been receiving from the Federation Account is less than the wages, personnel cost. It is far and not mildly less,” Aregbesola concluded.
