Fayemi, FG frustrate efforts to pay Ekiti workers, Fayose alleges

Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose, has raised the alarm that his predecessor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi and the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government were frustrating his efforts to pay workers’ salary arrears.

The state is owing workers salary arrears for four months, which the governor has promised to pay before leaving office later this year.

But Fayose, at a press conference in Ado Ekiti yesterday, accused the Federal Government of stopping refund of money spent by the state government to execute road projects.

“It is with heavy heart and deep sense of responsibility that I address you today on the latest display of deep seated hatred against Ekiti State and its people by leadership of the APC, especially the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Fayemi.

“When I said that I won’t leave office as a debtor of salary, I was sure that the over N12billion owed the state by the Federal Government on construction and rehabilitation of federal roads would be paid this month.

“However, I’m shocked that in their usual characteristics of working against every effort to alleviate the sufferings of the people, Fayemi, through his Commissioner for Finance, Dapi Kolawole, went to court in Abeokuta seeking an order that the N11billion refund should not be paid to my administration.

“Because of this court action, the refund that should have been made this month is said to have been stopped,” Fayose said. He alleged that the latest onslaught was aimed at destabilising the state government ahead of the July governorship election.

“My question is: must Ekiti people, especially the workers be made to suffer just because of the forthcoming governorship election? Is it by inhuman act that these APC people intend to realise their tall dream of taking over Ekiti State by force?

“I consider this as wickedness taken too far against one’s own people all in the name of election. It is my belief that irrespective of our political affiliation, the wellbeing and interest of our people should come first.”

According to him, it is lamentable that it was the same APC government of Fayemi that ran the state into huge debts, which led to the irregular payment of salary.

The governor said with the recent effort to stop the payment, the APC had exposed itself that it lied when claiming that refund had been made to his government in the past.

In his reaction, Kolawole denied the allegation.

“As to whether he will pay workers, all the money he has been earning before, was he paying workers? All the bailouts, budget support, monthly allocations, was he paying workers?

“I have gone to court to defend my name. He has received money than Fayemi. Have you ever heard from him that the Federal Government is owing the state before. Which salaries, the money they have been giving him in the past, can’t he use them to pay salaries? “ the former commissioner said.

On the controversial debt profile of the state, Kolawole said: “Fayose has been peddling rumour in town that the government of Fayemi owed 25 billion. Have you not heard from him that Fayemi borrowed money that can’t be repaid until 2030?

“I have gone to court to say that when Governor Fayemi was leaving, the debt profile was N30 billion. I equally said that when we were leaving the government of Ekiti, this debt we owed was a result of the Federal Government work we did, and we were expecting refund from the federation account.

“All the money we borrowed were not outside seven years of repayment. If a governor is saying repaying the loan will not end until after 2036, then something happened after we left office. Was the money generated by him or Fayemi government?” he queried.