Malam Olawale Rasheed, the spokeswoman for Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke, issued a statement on Thursday in Osogbo that detailed a staggering N76 billion debt from Mr. Gboyega Oyetola's government for unpaid wages, pensions, and insurance premiums.
He continued by saying that Mrs. Bimpe Ogunlumade, the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Finance, provided the new administration with an update on the state's financial status on Thursday.
He specified the arrears in detail: salary of N29,875,191,128.64; pension arrears of N45,375,237,693.40; and group life insurance premiums of N554,644,028.97.
The spokesperson stated that the news ran counter to Oyetola’s allegation that he had left the new government N14 billion in cash.
However, in a statement released through his spokesman Ismail Omipidan, Oyetola argued that he owed no salary for the four years he was in office.
“This also explains why we did not witness any industrial dispute for four years. By their figure, what it means is that we owed salaries for close to one year. Is that possible? The Labour Union can also bear testimony to the fact that we never left any salary unpaid in our time, just as we did not take any bank loan for four years,” Omipidan stated.
He added that the pension and gratuity backlog had been reduced thanks to work done by his government.
“The new Governor and his team want to ride on a populism mantra. Unfortunately, they do not understand the concept and philosophy of populism. That’s why they have resorted to blackmail.
“On the day of the inauguration, the Governor said it would take time for him to pay salaries because he needed to freeze government account to enable him to look at the books.
“Today, he is saying he frowns at the delay in salary payment. And for November’s salary, we signed off on November 20th. I am sure we are in for more drama.”