Fear in Osun over Aregbesola"s plan to divert bailout fund

Industrial crisis looms in Osun State, following allegations that Governor Rauf Aregbesola plans to divert federal government’s bailout fund for payment of backlog salaries.

Aregbesola

Also, a group, Civil Societies Coalition for the Emancipation of Osun State (CSCEO), has asked the governor to stop using the name of Chief Bola Ige, who was murdered 14 years ago, to draw public sympathy to his inability to pay the backlog of salaries to workers and retirees alike for period of between seven and eight months.

The group was reacting to media report yesterday which credited to Governor Aregbesola as saying that Ige’s killers were behind the plot to destabilise Osun State.

The group in a statement signed by its Chairman, Comrade Adeniyi Alimi Sulaiman lambasted Gov. Aregbesola for drawing the spirit of Late Ige into his failure to perform the simple constitutional role of a governor by paying the state’s workers and retirees as and when due.

Meanwhile, suspicion that the governor may divert the N35 billion bail-out funds for payment of backlog of salaries is fueled by alleged proposition by the government that workers accept half salaries for the month of March.

Talks of industrial unrest came to fore as the Joint Public Service Negotiating Council (JPSNC), yesterday, said workers in the state would not accept payment of half salary for the month of March as proposed by the government.

THISDAY checks yesterday revealed that instead of paying the workers’ salaries and pensions, the government has been embarking on different strategies to ensure the backlog of salaries were not paid in full.

A source alleged that one of the schemes being used by the governor was a mandatory requirement in a circular titled “State of Osun Government Staff Information 2015” which states that all workers should obtain and present their primary school leaving certificate with their passport photographs attached.

Also, that all the documents are to be filled and submitted within the next 24 hours, the source said, adding that the government embarked on staff auditing few weeks ago with the aim of fishing out ghost workers.

Sources said this requirement was rejected since it was not part of a Memorandum of Understanding they signed with the government before suspending their industrial action and its subsequent request for workers audit.

The sources emphasised that the discovery of ghost workers as well as sundry fraudulent discrepancies during the screening exercise conducted on the workers in the past few weeks confirmed the suspicion of the state labour that the use of consultants to pay workers’ salaries has further compounded the problem of the state by allegedly raising the state’s wage bill far above expectation.

They said the government’s request for their primary school certificate after the screening exercise was a ploy to further prolong their sufferings and to deny them the payment of their salaries and pensions.

Some Civil Servants who spoke to THISDAY yesterday said any move by the government to embark on unwanted action would be firmly resisted, and called on the State’s House of Assembly to urgently wade into the matter.

Meanwhile, some workers under the aegis of Council of Academic Staff Unions of Osun State Owned Tertiary Institutions (CASUOSTI), in a press statement issued to journalists recently, said for the months of January and February this year, they were paid less than what they had on their pay slips.

CASUOSTI, in its statement signed by the Chairman, Lasisi Jimoh, Secretary, Olusegun Lana and PRO, Dotun Omisore, decried the antics of the state government, describing it as “demoralising and discouragement towards academic improvement.

“In our efforts to seek justice amicably, we consulted those in government, mostly the Chief of Staff and Head of Service in separate meetings.

“At those meetings, Government admitted our position that the financial effects of 2014 promotions and migration of lower cadres are irreversible. We had mutual understanding that our salaries would be paid correctly once the then expected “bailout” funds were received from the federal government.

“Alas! Now that the much expected bailout funds have been received, the state government has concluded plans to sustain the pay cut contrary to the principle of fair play, equity and collective agreement between our union and the state government.

“Do we deserve to be short paid when all our outstanding salaries, allowances and leave bonuses were duly factored into the amount requested as bail out?”, the statement queried.

Fear in Osun over Aregbesola"s plan to divert bailout fund