Governor Ayodele Fayose has dared the civil servants in Ekiti State that the fresh refund of N11b from the Federal Government is not meant for their pending nine months salaries but for infrastructures.
Speaking with some reporters at the Government House in Ado, Fayose’s media aide, Lere Olayinka, said although the governor sympathised with the workers over unpaid salaries, the government cannot abandon some infrastructure that are nearing completion for the next administration to take the glory.
“Salary payment is not something that a succeeding administration can ignore to pay, but it can decide to abandon uncompleted projects. That is why the completion of ongoing projects is very important and that is why Governor Fayose had decided to devote the N11b to projects completion,” he explained.
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He blamed the Federal Government officials for making the payment of the refund public by disclosing to some journalists in Abuja, who published the story that is now putting pressure on the government as workers had already banked on the refund for the payment of their salary arrears.
Olayinka, who explained that the earlier denial of the refund was a mistake at the time the governor was in Benue to commiserate with Agatu people over the heldsmen killings, said the governor would try his best within available resources to pay workers’ salaries.
Speaking on Fayose’s visit to Benue State to commiserate with the victims of herdsmen’s killings, he justified why Fayose donated bigger money than Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, explaining that while Wike didnt have similar experience with Ekiti State where an Agatu man lost his life to some herdsmen, Fayose had to do more to placate the people that lost their lives in Ekiti.
He explained: “Governor Fayose needed to donate bigger money to help the people of Benue who lost their people to herdsmen in Ekiti and to also fight the herdsmen to a standstill.
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“While Governor Wike gave N200m, we donated N350million because we won’t allow Fulani men to wipe out a tribe that is struggling to make ends meet through farming but that are being deprived of earning a living on their own land.
“Ekiti people are happy with the infrastructure recorded in our time, especially the bridge. Even the opposition party in the state has commended our brilliant moves, and so that is why we must continue with the good work on infrastructure and we are sure that salary will be sorted out gradually by Prof. Eleka when he assumes office.”
Speaking on the trouble within PDP over the choice of Eleka as the governorship candidate, Olayinka said there is no longer any crisis in the party “except for a belligerent few who are so blindfolded and will do anything to get elected even when obviously they are unsellable”.
He said: “Take Adeyeye for instance, a man who can’t even handle the duties of the national secretariat of the party effectively wants to be governor to be in charge of a whole state that has witnessed rapid infrastructure development.
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“Can’t you see the radio station he runs in Ekiti State that has lost bearing because it was created to fight the governor?
“What development did Ekiti State University record when Adeyeye was the Chairman of the Council?
“It is obvious, his managerial skills call for worry.”
He downplayed the salary arrears owed Ekiti State workers, saying even though Fayose was owing workers between eight and nine months, the workers’ likeness for the governor was unshakable.
“Salary payment default is not peculiar to Ekiti State and we won’t offload it one night; it’s a gradual process.
“Slowly and steadily, we will get it paid but not with the N11billion received a few days ago,” he said.
He added that Eleka’s flag off campaign will shake the state and criticised the Federal Government for always making any refund to Ekiti State a public issue to set workers against the governor over salary demand.
“The Federal Government can continue using pages of newspapers and Internet to declare every kobo they paid to us.
“It is our right and we won’t be deterred in making progress in terms of infrastructure,” he concluded.
www.sojworld.com © February 13, 2018
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