Stories by Gbenga Olarinoye
The standard bearer of the All Grassroots Alliance, AGA, Barr. Femi Kehinde has advised public workers in the state not to be carried away by what he termed as the plot to hoodwink them into getting their votes through the full payment of their July salaries.
His assertion followed the payment of full salary for July to all categories of workers, including civil servants in local government councils. The move was a departure from the previous graduated system where workers were paid fractions of their salaries.
Reacting to the development, Kehinde contended that the “the full payment of July salary to workers is an expired style of the Governor Rauf Aregbesola administration. They did it in 2014 to deceive the people, saying that “governance should not be by deceit, but by reality.” According to the AGA governorship candidate, “for a government that had not paid full salary in the past 37 months and is now paying July salary just because the election is around the corner is very unfortunate. It is an attempt to hoodwink the workers to vote for their party, and after the election, they go back to their old self.”
Kehinde continued, “as at today, Osun State government is in humongous debt with about 80% of its monthly earning going for debt payment, leaving a paltry 20% to service the administration in the payment of salary. Where did they now suddenly find the fund to pay full salary for July. They have mismanaged the economy to the level that to pay full salary is almost unrealisable because of what they pay to service the debt”.
“I don’t know why Osun should find herself in this parlous state. Payment of regular salary has a very serious effect on education in terms of teachers’ performance. When teachers are not motivated, how would they teach effectively? When doctors are not motivated, how would they render good medical service? Medical doctors were being paid 30 percent of their salary, and the government takes 100 percent taxation from that 30 percent salary”, he added.
