BY TheCable
Dapo Kolawole, a former commissioner for finance in Ekiti state, says Ayodele Fayose, governor of the state, has the money to pay salaries for at least three of the five months he owes workers of the state but chose to “divert” it.
But Kolawole, who was speaking with journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, blamed continuous delay in payment of the salaries on the governor’s “gross incompetence and lack of capacity”.
He argued that the state would not be in the present economic mess had its resources been properly managed.
He added that the economic crisis in the state was being compounded because Fayose was running the government on a negative goodwill, having failed to attract support from developmental agencies, institutions and well-meaning citizens of the state.
He challenged Fayose to explain local government workers are being owed, since local government fund is sourced directly from the federation account.
“Other state governments have embraced the task of governance with every sense of responsibility, thereby re-positioning their states,” said Kolawole, who was commissioner from 2010 to 2014.
“But what do we have in Ekiti? We have someone who never promised anything, so cannot deliver anything. Fayose lacks the required capacity to lead at a critical moment.”
He admitted that the immediate past administration of Kayode Fayemi, which he served, took loans, but said the various loans were tied to regenerative projects, with a well-structured repayment plan that had a seven-year term at the maximum.
He wondered why the incumbent administration in the state refused to apply the refunds to meet the loan repayment as planned.
“Yes we took a bond of N25billion, and the repayment plan was well-structured. Fifty percent of the loan was regenerative and 50 per cent social infrastructure like road, bridges and water projects. And the repayment was tied to some specific receipts from the federation account,” he said.
“For the loans taken at commercial banks, it was for four years. And the repayment was to have come from the various refunds from the federal government. But owing to dirty politics by the then PDP-led federal government, we were denied the refunds simply because we were going for election.
“Now that the Fayose administration has been paid substantial parts of the refund; instead for the administration to use the refund to pay the loan, he restructured the loan for another 20 years, and then diverted the money.
“The governor’s claim that the state has a N2.6 billion monthly wage is criminal. Under Fayemi, the monthly wage bill was N2.6billion, and you remember this included the payment of N5,000 monthly social security stipends to 20,000 indigent elderly citizens. It also included 10,000 youth volunteers, 800 peace corps and 300 members of EKSTMA and other initiatives.
“Under Fayose, all social security for the elderly was scrapped, peace corps scrapped, EKSTMA scrapped. The governor even said he expunged 500 ghost workers from the nominal roll. Add that to the fact that about 50 workers retire on monthly basis from the service without corresponding employment. How then can Fayose claim to have N2.6billion monthly wages as did Fayemi?
“These and several questions must be asked and answers must be provided in order for the state to move forward.
“For instance, Fayose must be asked what he did with the loans he had taken in the last few months. This include N10 billion bank loan, N9.6billion bailout, N2billion micro credit fund obtained from CBN as well as monthly allocations and IGR for 20 months, which remained largely unaccounted for.
“On the debt figures credited to Fayose, I doubt if you can trust him on anything? He is highly inconsistent with figures he brandishes around:. On his inauguration pamphlet, he put the debt profile at N86 billion just to get the sympathy of the former President Jonathan on financial support for his government. Later he put it at N96billion and N68 billion at different fora .Now, he is saying it’s N31billion. Can you beat that level of inconsistency?”
He said the Ekiti state chapter of APC his party had challenged the debt management office to publish the true debt portfolio of the state to put an end to the Fayose’s “frivolous claims”.
“I think it is time the DMO came up with the exact figure,” he added.
“It is high time Fayose faced the serious task of governance and did away with brigandage. A government that plays on the intelligence of its workers by giving them bank payment alerts only to withdraw it hours later is not only mean, it is criminal.
“A creative and compassionate government would still find ways to make life more meaningful for its citizens. But the Fayose administration is irredeemably a one-man show, by one-man and for one-man.”
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