We could have paid 4-month salaries en bloc, but… —Ajimobi

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8 years ago

OYO State governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, has said that the civil servants in the state could have, last December, received four months salaries en bloc, but for the failure of the state government to receive the Paris Club debt refund.

Ajimobi said the Federal Government deemed the state unworthy of the refund because the immediate past government was said to have received the same refund, some time in 2009.

He, however, expressed optimism that the state government, currently reconciling its accounts with the Federal Government, would get some refund to clear its backlog of salaries.

“The Federal Government has been giving some refund on excess charges on loans taken by each state. Oyo State is one of the states that will not benefit because the Federal Government said we have been given refund before this administration came in. We were told that this was done sometime in 2008 to 2009. If we had got that money, we would have been able to pay three or four months salaries.

“That notwithstanding, we are trying to reconcile with the Federal Government. We are doing everything necessary to get something. And, the moment we get something, we will pass it on to the workers.

“If we have money and suffer the workers, posterity will judge us. We will do everything possible to pay salaries. As I appreciate the workers, I want to appeal to them to bear with us,” he said.

Commissioner for Finance and Budget, Mr Bimbo Adekanmbi, said that the state government would have cleared two months out of its backlog of salaries, if it had received the Paris Club debt refund.

Adekanmbi said “the state government is exploring all measures to ensure that it gets some refund.”

“We were told that in the past, Oyo State had gotten some Paris Club refund and that we are not eligible. Our argument is that Governor Abiola Ajimobi-led government has not received any such refund and we are exploring opportunities to see that we get something.

“Since the intention of the refund is to help state governments alleviate the difficulties they face in terms of salary payment and general hardship, our argument is that we should still get some money, this time. If we get the Paris Club debt refund this month, a good percentage of that will be devoted to clearing the backlog of salaries,” Adekanmbi said.