The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has urged workers in the local governments of the state to demand for their entitlements and salaries from Governor Ayodele Fayose, saying the bogus debt figures he is reeling out to council workers are fabrications to create alibi for failure to pay their salaries and entitlements.
Reacting to the governor’s message to council workers in his tours of the local governments across the state telling them about the financial position of the state, APC Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatubosun, said in a statement that the governor’s message is nothing other than lies and fabrications to create excuse for failure to meet government’s commitments to workers.
“If all the debt figures the governor is reeling out are true, where did (former Governor Kayode) Fayemi get the money to pay workers for four years without owing workers’ salary? He said, for instance, that N800m is deducted from Ekiti allocation every month from source, if this was so, how did Fayemi cope with paying salary and pay the contractors in his various infrastructure projects across the state?” Olatubosun queried.
The APC spokesman warned Ekiti workers against “an unconscionable liar whose life is denominated in naira and kobo”.
“The man going about deceiving workers about the imaginary debt profile of Ekiti State knows what he is doing. He is going in his last leg attempt in the misapplication of Ekiti money just like he did in 2005 when N1.3bilion for poultry project disappeared between Ibadan and Afao-Ekiti,” Olatubosun said, adding:
“In the last three months, Fayose’s message remains the same. He said to the shock of everybody that he did not believe in setting any agenda for development. For us in APC, a government that doesn’t have an agenda is doomed to fail.”
The APC spokesman said Ekiti people and workers should ask Fayose what he did with the N22b that was refunded to Ekiti State after he was sworn in, including the refund of the N2b Ecological Fund released to the state on December 30, 2014.
“We must insist that Fayose should account for all these funds instead of creating the impression that Ekiti State is permanently broke. He cannot sacrifice Ekiti people because he wants to pay the debts he owed those who financed his election.
“We are aware of the presence of two of his financiers, one from Anambra and the other from Ogun State, who are insisting on recouping their money after helping Fayose in the June 21 poll,” Olatubosun explained, adding that the governor has not also responded to the report that each of the local governments had been mandated to deposit N750,000 every month in an alleged secret Sterling Bank account in which the governor is alleged to be the sole signatory.
He added: “APC is aware of the marble supply contract worth N100m to upgrade the new Government House the governor had earlier declared as too costly. Ekiti people have not finished raising eyes on this when news broke again that part of the building caught fire and so it needed to be fixed. Sources in the Govt House explained that it was a deliberate act of sabotage to ensure a new contract to make money.
“The governor has not responded to the allegation that he sold 20 of President Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign buses in his care to Ekiti State and donated 19 of them to the police which he listed as one of his achievements in 100 days.
“APC is also aware that a contract of N23m for the decoration of each of the 16 local governments’ headquarters across the state during Christmas was allegedly given to the governor’s brother. This is different from the deduction of N26m from the Local Govt Joint Account without the concurrence of the council chairmen for “security” even when the security vote for the governor’s personal security has doubled but refused to fund all security agencies to secure Ekiti people from criminals,” Olatubosun said.
He said all these misapplications of funds are being shielded from the public, while the governor preferred going about telling lies about over-inflated debts owed by Fayemi.
He urged the workers to insist on their entitlements as Ekiti State does not owe all the debts Fayose is banding around.
