The new administration in Osun state on Thursday claimed to have uncovered ‘a monumental debt in salaries, pensions, and insurance commitments incurred by the Gboyega Oyetola administration amounting to N76 billion’.
Governor Ademola Adeleke’s spokesman, Mallam Olawale Rasheed noted in a statement made available to Team@orientactualmags.com that this revelation was made by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Mrs. Bimpe Ogunlumade, while briefing officials of the new administration on the financial status of the state on Thursday.
‘The disclosure was contrary to the claim by the former governor that he left N14 billion in bank accounts for the new government among other bogus claims that have now been found to be an outright falsehood.
The breakdown of the salaries and pension-related liabilities as disclosed by the Permanent Secretary are as follows:
(I) Salary: N29,875,191,128.64
(II) Pension Arrears: N45,375,237,693.40
(III) Group Life Assurance Scheme: N554,644,028.97
Total: N75,805,072,851.01
The public is urged to note that this is not the total debt inherited by our administration as briefings on other sources of liabilities continue tomorrow’ the statement said.
There was nothing like unpaid salary on former governor Gboyega Oyetola’s watch ,his media aide, Mr Ismaili Omipidan, however asserted on Thursday.
Oyetola, who took office as governor of Osun state on November 27 2018, left office on Sunday, November 27 2022 after completing his four -year term.
Mr. Omipidan in a statement made available to Team@orientactualmags.com also asserted that the Gboyega Oyetola administration did not take any loan from the financial institutions .
‘The claim by the Government of Osun that the Adegboyega Oyetola administration owed salary arrears and pensions to the tune of over N75 billion is not only outlandish but preposterous.
Our suspicion is that they have gone to dig up the arrears owed by their partner and collaborator, the settlement of which they used to hoodwink some workers ahead of the July 16 governorship contest.
For the umpteenth time, let me put it on the record that for four years, we did not owe a dime in payment of salaries, while we made conscious efforts to reduce the backlog of pensions and gratuities we inherited.
This also explains why for four years, we did not witness any industrial dispute. By their figure, what it means is that we owed salaries for close to one year. Is that possible? The Labour Union can also bear testimony to the fact that we never left any salary unpaid in our time, while we did not also take loan from any commercial bank for four years.
The new Governor and his team want to ride on a populism mantra. Unfortunately, They do not understand the concept and philosophy of populism.
That’s why they have resorted to blackmail. On the day of inauguration, the Governor said it would take time for him to pay salaries because he needed to freeze the bank accounts belonging to the state government to enable him check the records.
Today, he is saying he frowns at delay in payment of salary. And for November salary, we actually signed off since November 20th. I am sure we are in for more dramas- Team@orientactualmags.com
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