My Administration Has Performed Very Well – Aregbesola

Osun State Governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola,
said on Tuesday that his administration had
performed creditable well despite its inability
to pay some workers in the state for the
past seven months.
According to a statement made available to
our correspondent in Osogbo on Tuesday
by his media aide, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon,
the governor, who scored himself high,
spoke during a courtesy visit to him by
Osun Action Strategy and Development
Group.
He, however, said he was pained by the
inability of his government to pay workers,
but also sympathised with workers while
assuring them that the hardship would
soon come to an end.
The statement read, “Despite the financial
shortage, even the most virulent critics of
this government cannot deny that the
administration has performed creditably
well.
“This government built roads, schools,
supplied students with Opon Imo (Tablets
of Knowledge) distributed uniforms to all
public students in the state, created welfare
programmes for the old and vulnerable
people as well as support farmers.
“No state has done what Osun did in the
area of security, which today has totally
checked crimes and other anti-social
activities in the state. Huge amount of
money was committed to purchasing
armoured personnel carrier and
ambulances, which are strategically located
in the state and responding to distress calls
round the clock.
“If all the programmes with the huge cost
involved are factored into the accrue-able
revenue to the state, it will be crystal clear
why the state is where it is today.”
Describing the situation as an economic
tragedy, he attributed the current
misfortune to gross mishandling of the
nation’s economy by the last regime of the
Peoples Democratic Party.
He stated that the unchecked oil theft under
the PDP, in which the nation was losing
400,000 barrels per day, culminated in
drastic reduction of oil price in the
international market.
This price fall has created for the country a
tragedy of huge proportion that translated
to economic disaster, pains and agony for
the workers across the country.
Aregbesola stated the state collected N5
billion as monthly allocation in February
2013 but the allocation drastically reduced to
a mere N540 million in April 2015.
He said further, “As we are trying to find
solution to this challenges, we must not
also run away from what brought us to this
situation.
“For those who think this is an opportunity
to pillory us in this economic condition, I
pity them. Only God does not fail. We shall
overcome; we shall recover from this
challenge. I sympathise and feel for the
workers. I appeal to them to bear with us
as we work assiduously to end this
problem. I assure them that the period of
agony will soon be over.
“It is disheartening for people to work and
such work fails to translate into wages. It is
a harrowing experience for both workers
and government.
“The challenge of unpaid salaries should not
be seen as opportunities by some to pillory
either the government or any others facing
the same challenges.”