Governor Rauf Aregbesola has blamed the inability of the Osun State government to pay full workers’ salaries on financial challenges, and not because government is wicked.
He made the clarification on Tuesday while addressing an audience at the ‘Ogbeni Till Day Break Programme’ in Osogbo, the state capital in South-West Nigeria.
Governor Aregbesola commended civil servants in the state for their understanding, resilience and cooperation in the face of the current hard times.
“Firstly, I salute the perseverance, patience, commitment, understanding and unalloyed support given by our workers, especially at tough times.
“As we all know, the issue of salary has become ubiquitous as many couldn’t pay salaries of their workforce. We couldn’t pay not because we are wicked, but because we are financially challenged.
“We have been rewarding workers based on their performance, diligence, merit and dedication to duties. We have been promoting workers based on their resilience and commitment.
“We have been providing a good leadership to Osun workers on their promotion. The state has been doing everything possible to support workers and prioritise their welfare,” he said.
The governor further reiterated that he would not leave any project uncompleted before the expiration of his tenure, and faulted the allegation of inflation of contract on road constructions in the state.
He explained that roads are different in qualities and characteristics and so, the amount for the construction of a kilometre road would be based on its quality and characteristics.
“As we know, the cost of roads are not the same anywhere in the world. We cannot compare the cost of a kilometre of road in each of the states. To us, our roads are done with active participation of officials from the Ministry of Works, with absolute transparency in the rate and cost.
“The rate is in line with international standard, you should ask how much they construct roads in other states. You can’t compare our roads with sensational roads, we have not inflated cost of any of our projects.
“In the history of Osun, the quality of roads we are constructing has never been seen or done by any government. Also, no administration has constructed the number of bridges constructed by our government in the last six years,” Aregbesola said.
