N5.5bn June Allocation: Fayemi Charges Fayose To Make Salary Payment Priority

The Ekiti State Governor-elect, Dr John Kayode Fayemi, has asked the outgoing Governor, Ayodele Fayose, to devote the June 2018 federal allocation of N5.52billion to payment of salaries and other entitlements of workers. 

A statement by the Director of the Governor-Elect Media Office, Wole Olujobi, said that henceforth, Fayose must make accountability and human face critical factors in the policies of his administration.

He said the usual practice by the governor to collect federal allocations and call stakeholders meetings to deceive Ekiti people on the sharing formula between the state and local governments is no longer acceptable.

Urging Fayose to make accountability and transparency a cardinal policy of his administration in the run-up to the October 16, 2018 handover date.

“Information available to us suggests that Fayose at the weekend called all the Directors in the state service to a meeting in the new Governor’s Lodge, pleading with them not to release sensitive information to the opposition, including non-disclosure of the state’s finances,” the statement said.

“But we want to say that the state has received N5.52billion fresh June federal allocation and we demand that the money be spent to pay salary, and should not be subjected to the circus of lies and deceits that often accompanied the sharing of the allocations in the past whereby local governments were given their shares in the morning and in the night they would be coerced to return the money to the governor’s office while local governments workers remained unpaid for nine months.

“Fresh reports on the status of the state’s internally generated revenue (IGR) have indicated that between October 16, 2014 to date, the state has a revenue profile of N34.56billion kept in secret accounts in one old generation bank account and another new generation bank account, yet there is nothing to suggest that the money was spent for the benefit of Ekiti people.

“This revenue profile in the two banks is outside the traffic and environmental offences fines and charges reportedly kept in accounts unknown to the state’s accounting and financial system at an old generation bank at Ijigbo area of the state capital.”

Regretting that cloudy manner of doing government’s business had rendered the state’s economy comatose,  Olujobi explained that evidence had also shown that massive frauds existed in Water Corporation and Sports Council where government’s cash and vehicles had disappeared without trace.

“At the State Water Corporation where opaque financial management has left the system in ruins, Ondo State had paid its counterpart fund of N40million for the upgrading of Egbe Dam, but Ekiti State Government has refused to honour its obligation to the project, even as the money paid by Ondo State cannot be traced to any government’s account.

“At Ero Dam, despite releasing N1billion on paper out of N1.4billion budgeted for the dam’s expansion, there is no sign of work going on there as we speak while in the same Water Corporation, two multi-million naira serviceable trucks were taken to Afao-Ekiti country home of the governor several months ago under pretext that they were being taken there for repairs and up till now, the trucks are still not in the service of the Water Corporation.

“This followed the same pattern whereby the state lost five unserviceable vehicles at the State Sports Council to new owners without any public bidding and auctioning to take possession of the vehicles.

“For instance, reports indicated that three Toyota Hiace buses, one 504 Peugeot and one Nissan 120Y had disappeared from the premises of the corporation on the alleged order of the governor.

“This is besides illegal auctioning of several government’s vehicles at ridiculous prices to cronies, who later assembled the same vehicles at a motor showroom in Ibadan for resale to the public.”

Frowning at the report of alleged increase in the monthly running grants to the office of the Wife of the Governor from N20million to N35million as reportedly approved on March 10, 2018, Olujobi said that for the little time remaining for Fayose’s administration, he must make transparency and compassion his watchwords by applying the state’s funds diligently, particularly in the payment of salaries and entitlements of workers and pensioners.