Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State said on Sunday said that it was extremely painful that he cannot pay salaries for months now.He however added that contrary to reports, he was not helpless about the unpaid salaries of civil servants in his state because he has Allah.
Delivering the Ramadan Lecture at the Women Development Centre, Abuja, the governor used the occasion to debunk reports that he had said he was ‘helpless’. He delivered a lecture titled : “Ramadan, Living in The Season of Positive Change”at the event organised by the Al-Habibiyyah Islamic Society.
Aregbesola said, “It is extremely painful that I cannot pay salary. It is painful that I have to be in this condition.
“I am not helpless because I have Allah and the people with me. And whoever has Allah and the people has everything,” assuring that he was making efforts to pay the outstanding salaries of the civil servants.
He noted that the state borrowed up to N25 billion from banks to support the allocation from the federation to pay workers salaries.But the banks have failed to continue lending money.
He explained that the state’s wage bill was N3.5 billion monthly and his administration has found it difficult to pay in the face of dwindling and inspite of increase in the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) from N900 million to N8 billion annually
“I didn’t envisage that 400,000 barrels of crude oil would be stolen daily.
“But the whipping boys must be the Governors and I am the ‘Chief’ of the whipping boys,” Aregbesola said.
He expressed delight with the reemergence of Muhammadu Buhari as Nigeria’s leader.Also , the governor hailethe Al-Habibiyyah Islamic Society which organized the event.
Aregbesola noted that “terrorism is a challenge of Islam and it is the Muslims who will solve it”.He maintained that Islam does not support killing without judicial ruling.
Some of the dignitaries at the lecture included Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Mohammed Lawal Uwais, wife of Nasarawa state governor, Mrs Mairo Al-makura, Senators Abubakar Sodangi and Khairat Gwadwabe as well as a former Minister of National Planning, Dr. Abubakar Suleiman .and many more.
