Ibadan elders task Ajimobi on salary, corruption

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President of the Ibadan Elders’ Forum, Amb. Olusola Sanu, on Saturday called on the Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi, to use his corporate managerial experience to tackle corruption in the state and ensure that salaries of workers in the state were paid promptly.

Sanu said this in the keynote address he delivered at the civic reception organised by the forum in honour of Ajimobi for his victory at the last governorship election.

The event was attended by eminent Ibadan indigenes, among whom were the Chairman of Kakanfo Inn and Conference Centre, Dr. Lekan Are, and his wife, Olabisi; head of the Aboderin family in Ibadan, Chief Olutunde Aboderin; Deputy Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Bayo Adelabu; Executive Director of First Bank, Adesola Adeduntan; former President-General of Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes, Chief Bayo Oyero; Bashorun of Ibadan land, Chief Kola Daisi; and the Ekefa Olubadan of Ibadan land, Chief Adebayo Akande.

Ajimobi, who attended the event in company with his wife Florence, explained that the state shouldered huge workforce with meager revenues incapable of paying their wages because of the present economic situation in Nigeria.

The IEF president said, “I recognise that because of the position of the economy, we are living in hard times. However, I need to say that our populace are very unhappy about their parlous situation with salaries not paid on time, and if paid, with accumulated arrears. The Olubadan and His High Chiefs-in-council are not exempted from the parlous situation with their salaries and allowances not paid for months.

“The Ibadan people and indeed, Oyo State people expect that their government should have been put in place by now with the appointment of commissioners. We also express the hope that you will not forget that President Muhammadu Buhari is tackling corruption in his agenda. Regrettably, Oyo State is not exempted from corruption. The truth is that there are traces of corruption in the government — there is corruption in the ministries of education, lands and housing, works and transport, SUBEB and a few others and parastatals.

“We learnt that some members of your past executive requested to be bribed accordingly in order to approve your projects. We hope that this time around, you will resist all those forms of blackmail. Frankly, we are happy that you are the one in the saddle at this point in time. Your experience in the corporate world has given you the skill to manage men and resources. We hope you will put the experience to use by expanding the sources of revenue accruing to the state.”

In his response, Ajimobi pointed out that the size of the state workforce was huge and that in reality, duties were being duplicated with glaring low productivity. He thanked the elders for the honour and asked for their support for the state at all times even after his tenure in office.

He said, “Because we run a government, that is why we have huge staff strength. We actually do not need more than 30 per cent of the work force we have now. But government must provide jobs and must not send workers away. That is why we retain all the staff. The work of one person is being done by seven people and they all earn salaries. Productivity is low in the state.

“We have a wage bill of N5.2bn and we now earn far lower amount in allocation and around N1bn in Internally Generated Revenue. Since we came into power, we have increased salaries, such that a worker who earned N50,000 now earns N150,000. We have to say the truth. The Federal Government is willing to give more money but it is broke because the money has been stolen.”

Source: Punch