• Workers understand reason for delay, PDP

From Lateef Dada, Osogbo

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has faulted Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State over his inability to pay the March salaries of the government workers in the state.

Adeleke apologized for the delay in the payment of salary, explaining that he intends to pay with promotion arrears of the workers, hence the delay.

But, the APC in a statement by its Acting Chairman, Tajudeen Lawal, and made available to Journalists by the party’s Director of Media and Information, Kola Olabisi, described Adeleke’s reason as flimsy, untenable, sleazy, and skanky.

APC said Adeleke is only trying to be clever by half with his flimsy reasons, saying the governor has failed in one of his campaign promises to be paying the state workers their salaries latest on the 26th of each month.

Lawal, who noted that Oyetola also paid promotion arrears he inherited, questioned “how many of such salaries have Adeleke paid that his government has ceased breathing midway like a proverbial smoke?

The party alleged that it is not unlikely that Adeleke might have run the state aground within the spate of four months as he has been spending the inherited state funds without recourse to accountability and probity.

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“A gentleman’s bond is his words. It would be recalled that Adeleke promised heaven and heart during the governorship campaign that he would never exceed the 26th of the month before he pays the workers.

“The reality on the ground now is that Adeleke has blown on frivolities all the funds that he inherited from his predecessor and those that accrued to his government to the extent that he cannot pay the salaries of the workers again as and when due.

“Adeleke is stylishly awaiting March federal allocation from Abuja before he could accomplish his governmental obligation with reference to the payment of the workers’ salaries,” APC added.

However, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) said workers understand the imperative of the delay as it was meant to serve their interest to ensure payment of their long-awaited promotion arrears, which the last APC government denied them.

The state caretaker chairman of the PDP, Dr. Adekunle Akindele, in a statement on Saturday, said after failing for four years to pay the promotion arrears, contributory pensions, and the half salary of workers in Osun state, the APC is shamed by the sterling records of Adeleke’s administration which include clearing all the messy legacy of the previous government.

“The PDP government met a state already run aground by the APC but is now with ingenuity taking the state out of doldrums by focusing on human development, the revival of abandoned infrastructure, and delivery of urgent social services like water and health services,” Akindele added.