…Stop ranting, pay workers’ salary with N30 b you have received, Fayose replies

Wole Balogun, Ado Ekiti

Incumbent Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi  and  his predecessor in office,  Ayodele Fayose, on Monday, exchanged verbal invective over a whooping N38 billion Paris Club refund allegedly paid already to state covers by the Federal Government.

While Governor Fayemi alleged that the former governor wasted N18 billion of the refund, Fayose also alleged that Governor Fayemi has collected N30 billion Paris refund and is yet to pay workers’ salaries with the money.

Fayemi expressed worries over how Fayose, who owed between four and eight months salary and pension arrears could not defray the backlog of workers’ benefit with such humongous amount of money but rather preferred to divert for other use.

The governor said he had not reneged on his avowed commitment to offset all the outstanding salary and pension before marking the first year in office.

On the increasing wave of kidnapping in the state, the governor said he had started giving incentives to security outfits in the state to be able to ensure safety of lives and property, adding that he was strategising with state’s security chiefs on how to erect a unique security architecture for Ekiti residents to be save at yuletide season.

Governor Fayemi spoke, in Ado-Ekiti, on Sunday evening, while appearing on the December edition of a programme tagged ‘Meet your  Governor’.

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Addressing the rumour milling rounds that he had collected a sum of N11.5 billion Paris Club barely two months he assumed office, Fayemi said: “Let those making the allegation came with verifiable proofs to substantiate their claim. Let them come with evidence.

“I have not collected any money in the fashion of road intervention or Paris club refund. Governor Fayose had the opportunity of paying bulk of these backlog of

salaries and pensions. He collected a sum of N18b out of the N21.5b due to Ekiti in the fund, so what is left for Ekiti is just N3.5b which can’t pay a month if we add the overhead costs of subvented institutions.

“As we speak, we are doing a lot of cleansing and that had reduced the monthly pay to workers to N2.1b. Those not properly employed had been left out until they provide evidence. The medical workers that were employed on consequential ground had been reabsorbed.

“I decided to delay appointment  of  politicians into government for me to be able to pay our workers. With this, Ekiti can now know who is the real and honest  friend  of the masses.

“I don’t want to do media trial for anyone, so I have hired the services of a renowned Audit Firm to look into our finances and the forensic state’s accounts will be published during our 100 days in office in January, 2019”, he said.

He said the state anti-grazing law signed into law by Fayose’s administration has not been suspended, clarifying that efforts will be made to rein in rampaging herders in the state, by not being tolerated to carry assorted rifles.

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“The ultimate aim of any government is to make people safe. We are not going to tolerate kidnapping here, that is not what we are. We are also going to protect our farmers against invaders.

“We are giving incentives to security to be able to deliver. It was the same hilux vans that we gave to the police that are still being used and the three Armoured Personnel Carriers, nothing was added under Fayose,” he alleged.

READ ALSO: Police arrest 13 suspected kidnappers with 4, 000 live ammunition in Sokoto

Fayemi said his government has paid the West African Examinations Council(WAEC) fee for all SS3 students in the state as part of his commitment free education.

He also warned that any principal found collecting illegal money in public schools will have himself to blame.

“But let me clarify here,  it was only the N500 per term for primary and N1,000 for secondary development  fee introduced by Fayose that was abrogated. Any other fee agreed by the school including money for uniforms would be paid by parents”, he clarified.

Stop ranting; pay workers salary with N30 billion received from Federal Government Fayose’s aide Tells Fayemi

Replying, Media Aide to Mr. Ayodele Fayose, the immediate pa t Governor of Ekiti State, Lere Olayinka told Governor, Fayemi to use the over N30 billion his government allegedly already received from the Federal Government as refund on federal roads construction, arrears of Budget Support and Paris Club refund to pay workers salary instead of jumping up and down, lying against his predecessor.

Olayinka said instead of his weak attempt at deceiving the people as usual, the governor should rather explain to Ekiti people, especially the workers why he prompted the federal government to withhold N2.1

billion arrears of Budget Support and N14.1 billion Paris Club refund, which was approved for payment to the state in June this year.

While exonerating the Fayose’s administration from the four months salary owed State Government workers before the expiration of his tenure, Olayinka said; “it was on the basis of the N2.1 billion arrears of Budget Support and N14.1 billion Paris Club refund already approved for payment in June that Fayose promised to clear the salary arrears. But due to his bitter politics, Fayemi blocked the payment and more than one month after receiving the payment, he is still

following his usual path of deceit instead of paying the workers.

He challenged Fayemi to make the records of disbursement of the Paris Club Refund received by the State public, saying there were conditions laid down by the federal governments before the fund was released and States were made to make reports of utilisation of first tranche of the refund before the second tranche was released.

“Besides, the fund was meant for both the State and local governments and it is on record that Ekiti fell into the hardship of inability to pay salaries regularly as a result of debt incurred during Fayemi’s first tenure and the loans restructuring done at the instance of the Federal Government and the Federal Economic Council.

“If Fayemi had not plunged Ekiti into unnecessary debt, over N1 billion wouldn’t have been deducted monthly from the State’s federal allocation. And if the APC government had not crippled the country’s economy, allocation to Ekiti State wouldn’t have reduced to less than N1 billion at some point,” Olayinka said.

He described Fayemi as a double-mouthed personality who should not be accorded any honour by sane minds, saying; “The reality is that Fayemi is reputed for speaking from both sides of his mouth. In the past, he described Fayose as an honourable person whose word is always his bond and today, he goes about denigrating the same Fayose.”