The Special Adviser to the All Progressives Congress Deputy Governor candidate for the coming gubernatorial election in Osun state, Mr Benedict Olugboyega, Alhaji Sunkanmi Ajiboye, has commended the decision of Governor Rauf Aregbesola in prioritising workers’ welfare.
Ajiboye in a statement he signed in Osogbo on Thursday, said the Osun government under the watch of Ogbeni Aregbesola had lived up to workers’ demands by not only prioritizing their welfare, but also placed their interests at the front burner.
He urged the workers to reciprocate the gesture by giving their support and vote the standard flagbearer of the APC, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola during the September 22nd gubernatorial election.
Describing Oyetola as a capable man who has the integrity, whose competence and experience are the needed tools to take Osun to the next level of economic prosperity, Ajiboye said if voted he would ensure regular payment of salaries.
“Osun government under Aregbesola has been the only state in history who to a large extent surrendered the authority to allocate resources for salaries to a committee set up by workers which is headed by a foremost labour leader, Comrade Hassan Sunmonu.
“Administration of Ogbeni Aregbesola in the State of Osun is friendly to workers. Government has consistently been paying full salaries to all workers from levels 1-7 till date.”
“It also paid full salary and introduced 13th month salary in appreciation of workers. Government also paid workers’ leave allowances regularly and aligned it with birthdays of staff, increased housing loan from N200,000 per staff to N700,000, increased car loan from N250,000to N500,000 for junior staffs and N350,000 to N750,000 for senior staff. ”
He said Aregbesola started the culture of paying workers’ salaries before or by 25th of every month.
“The challenge that necessitated modulated salary of 75% being paid to levels 8 to 10 and 50% to levels 12 and above came when the then federal government reported theft of 600,000 barrels of oil daily, coupled with fall in the price of crude oil, which led to fall in revenue allocation and affected almost all states especially on the payment of salaries. Modulated salary was agreed with workers as a better alternative to having to lay off staff.
” However, the Ogbeni Aregbesola’s government has promised to pay all arrears to all workers before he leaves office and he has shown commitment by paying arrears twice, and now started paying full salaries and pensions.
On the payment of pension, Ajiboye said “We have been committed to paying pensions. The Aregbesola government cleared substantial pension arrears left by the previous administration by increasing pension fund allocation from #50 million to #150 million monthly. ”
He further explained that “In 2011, the Federal Government passed into law the contributory pension scheme designed to reduce the burden of pension payments on government.
“Several workers who did not want to participate in the new scheme voluntarily retired, escalating the number of retirees. To improve the life of the retirees, the government responded by further increasing monthly allocation to N500 million, highest in the history of the state. ”
“It is the policy of the progressive party that workers welfare be the first priority. Thus, continuous payment is guaranteed under the incoming government of the APC.”
Speaking on the dept profile of the state, Ajiboye said ” the debt is exaggerated. Central Bank (CBN) and Debt Management Office (DMO), both controlled by Federal Government gave Osun State clean bills as far back as December 2013. This was confirmed again by Director General (DMO), “Osun Debt is Sustainable”.
“Osun is one of the best Sates in public debt management” in national newspapers on July 7th 2014 (Daily Independent pg. 3, Nigerian Tribune Pg 41, The Nation Pg 8 and Channels T.V News, 10pm, 6th July 2014) . We can also see what he’s doing with the money”.
