The Living Faith Church in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, has come to the rescue of the workers in the employ of the state government who are owed seven months salaries by providing food stuffs and financial donations for them.
The church, also known as Winners Chapel, had since Wednesday gathered names of members affected by the non-payment of salaries in the state.
At the end of the weekly Sunday service held in the church Sunday, no fewer than 100 persons including non-members of the church benefited from the gesture.
Also, some of the beneficiaries of the church’s gesture were non-Christians who work with the Osun State government.
Apart from the money given to the beneficiaries, other items given to each of them included, onions, beans, rice, flour, semovita and other food items.
The decision of the church followed the non-payment of salaries by the state government, a situation which has made it difficult for many civil servants who are members of the church to attend church services in the last few months.
The state pastor of the church, Pastor Olumuyiwa Emmanuel, had during the church service, said the welfare of the masses was part of the responsibility of the church.
He said the church appreciates the plights of workers in the state and prayed for improved economic situation.
Also, the church prayed fervently for the nation’s economy and made a case for the welfare of the work force.
Some of the beneficiaries of the gesture who spread across all strata of the civil service in the state expressed gratitude to the leadership of the church for coming to their aid at the time of their plight.
Meanwhile, former Chairman of Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriation, Senator Iyiola Omisore, yesterday said Osun State is on “life on support” and require urgent financial aid to keep it alive.
He also advised Governor Rauf Aregbesola to resign his position immediately and allow people with goodwill to run government of the state.
Omisore stated this while speaking with journalists at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) state secretariat in Osogbo.
Omisore said for Aregbesola to have admitted that the issue of Osun was beyond his capacity, he expected him to have communicated the state House of Assembly and honourably leave the seat of governor.
According to him “Osun is now a failed state because of financial recklessness of the governor. I really appreciate the fact that he confessed the present state of Osun affairs is beyond him and he should immediately throw in the towel.
“Nearly all commercial banks in Osun are being owed one form of loan or the other. The matter has reached that stage that the committee of bankers in the state at their meeting resolved that no bank should borrow this government any more. They are also waiting for remittances into state coffers.
“As soon as money comes in, they garnishee it. The situation calls for sober reflections and we will also look at ways we are going to help our people in a manner that will not ridicule them.”
Commenting further, Omisore said the immediate past administration of President Jonathan did not owe Osun or any state statutory allocation or any other funds due to it and alleged that, apart from inflated contracts, Aregbesola also spent huge sum on the Presidential project of the All Progressive Congress (APC) and was among five highest donating states.
