TheCable

The Osun state government has commenced the payment of salaries of its civil servants, slashing allowances of all political office holders in the state by 50 percent.

Semiu Okanlawon, director bureau of communication and strategy in the governor’s office, disclosed this in a statement issued on Tuesday.

Okanlawon said based on the resources available at the disposal of the government, the workers would only be able to receive their balance for November and full salary for December.

The statement assured the workers that the backlog of arrears would be cleared and informed the political office holders that the current economic situation necessitated the pay cut.

Okanlawon quoted Rauf Aregbesola, governor of the state, as saying he appreciates the understanding of the workers.

“We are glad to announce that we have commenced the process of paying for the balance of November and full December salary arrears for all our workers across the state and the process should be concluded by Friday, July 3rd, 2015. We are able to do this because our partners and creditors have faith in us and we have proven to be responsible and trustworthy,” the statement read.

“We must emphasise at this point: We are not out of the woods yet! Our finances took a dive because we were hit by the shock of the sudden and massive drop in global oil prices while Nigeria also had a federal government that failed in its primary responsibility to secure our people and our commonwealth. Thanks to the Nigerian people, that evil leadership has been removed and replaced with a progressive one. That does not translate to instant cure for our near-empty pockets. We must take drastic steps to correct many of our past errors and embrace the true realities of today.

“Therefore, we hereby announce a 50 per cent cut to the salaries and allowances of all political office holders and appointees. This is one of the many steps we are taking to ensure the sustenance of our collective.

“Austerity stares us right in the face. We must embrace it. We are going to intensify our efforts at prudence and frugality. We will practice self-denial in every way possible.

“As we proceed on this journey of self-discovery, we hope to put more and more of our people to work by attracting productive investments to our state. The better part of our resources will go to funding capital projects that will create employment and unlock wealth. The State of Osun will rise from this situation and prosper like never before.”