- Says, Aregbesola Still Owes 10 To 12 Months, Salaries, Pensions Arrears
A civil group, the Civil Societies Coalition for the Emancipation of Osun State (CSCEOS) has urged the State governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola to clear the backlog of the salaries and pensions arrears to the workers and retirees alike in the State, insisting that the State government under Aregbesola’s watch still owing the workers and retirees in the State between ten (10) to twelve (12) months salaries and pensions arrears.
It would be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari has recently disclosed that the Federal Government has released the total sum of N760.17 billion in two tranches of the Paris Club Refund Loan to states for the payment of outstanding salaries and pensions, but some governors are believed to have spent the funds on other things, alleging that Mr. Aregbesola was one of the governors in Nigeria that spent the State funds on another things entirely, which made the state to be swimming in the backlog of workers’ salaries and pensions to the tune of 10 to 12 months.
Reacting to President Buhari’s claim that the two tranches of the Paris Club Refunds loan released by the All Progressives Congress (APC) led Federal Government were enough to clear the backlogs of workers’ salaries pensions in the States of the federation.
In a signed statement by the CSCEOS’ Chairman, Comrade Adeniyi,Alimi Sulaiman and copies were made available to newsmen on Wednesday, maintained that with the position of the Nation’s President on Paris Club Refund loan, there should be no excuse for Mr. Aregbesola not to clear the outstanding salaries and pensions arrears of workers and retirees in the State, urging the leadership of the Labour Unions in the State to hold Aregbesola responsible for still owing salaries and pensions arrears.
Comrade Sulaiman who sympathized with the affected workers and retirees in the State over the non-usage of Bailout funds and Paris Club Refunds and Budget Support Funds (BSF) released to Mr. Aregbesola by Federal Government to clear the backlog of salary and pension arrears, advising the workers and retirees alike to ensure that they collected their outstanding legitimate entitlement before the emergency of new helmsman of the State in 2018,adding that Aregbesola has collected the funds from federal government for the purpose of the payment as being declared by President Buhari recently.
According to the group:” This is high time for the Federal Government to set up high level unbiased investigative panel on how the States mismanaged the funds being released to them for the purpose of clearing the backlog of workers’ salary and pensions and some States like Osun State still owing 10 to 12 months salary and pensions arrears. It is also the high time for the authority of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress(TUC) in the country, to wake up from their slumber by swiftting into action on how the Governors would be made to pay the outstanding arrears. Failure to settle this controversial issue would tantamount to the fact that Nigeria is sitting on the keg of gunpowder which may explode anytime as life has become miserable to the affected workers, particularly, in Osun State.
“The non-payment of the backlog of workers’ salaries and pensions upon receiving the funds for the same purpose from the Federal Government by Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, shown the level of the in-sensitiveness of the State government to the workers and retirees plight in the State. Investigation revealed that majority of the retirees in Osun State has turned to beggars due to non-payment of their pension’s arrears and gratuities, after they have worked tirelessly during their prime age, for the progress and development of the State”.
