The Bureau of Communication and Strategy in the Office of the Governor of Osun State, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, on Tuesday said the Central Bank of Nigeria has with its statistics of the nation’s revenue, rubbished claims by the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Senator Iyiola Omisore, who on Monday accused Aregbesola of financial recklessness.
The Bureau, in a statement by its Director, Semiu Okanlawon, said the precarious state of the Nigerian economy, especially as it affects the states and other tiers of government, is a direct vindication of the positions of Aregbesola.
Okanlawon said Aregbesola was the first to raise the alarm of an impending economic doom, adding that his cries and alerts that an economic war had been declared on the states were politicised by the Federal Government and the PDP in order to divert Nigerians’ attention away from the realities.
He said: “For us, Omisore is not the issue as we are more focused on getting the salary issue resolved and put behind us as fast as possible. However, it is germane to note that traducers of the Aregbesola administration in the ilk of Omisore should be told that capitalising on the plight of the state and its workers through fraudulent figures is not only self-serving, it is also wicked and unGodly.”
The statement said that going by the CBN’s revelations on Monday as reported by the Nigerian media on Tuesday, the Osun State governor has only been vindicated on his claims, which explains the reasons for the unavoidable delays in the payment of salaries.
The statement said: “The CBN’s explanation that showed that at N119.27 billion or 77.7 per cent of the total, state governments’ receipt from the Federation Account was below both the 2014 monthly budget estimate and the level in the preceding month by 29.7 and 30.3 per cent, respectively, is a direct vindication of our position.
“We all only need to be reminded that in July 2013 when the June allocation was released, it was discovered that the allocation was down by a sharp 40 per cent. It was at this point that Governor Aregbesola began to call the attention of Nigerians to the coming danger.
“That 40 per cent downward journey of the revenue to the states continued till June 2014 when it dropped further to 60 per cent. Overall now, the revenue to the states have now dipped by 60 per cent and that accounts for the inability of the state to be able to cope in augmenting any longer.
“Regardless of these figures, those who want to make gains out of the plight of the state and the workers would rather ignore the reality; paint wrong pictures in order to get undeserved attention to boost their selfish political ambitions. The figures Omisore and his cohorts quote do not add up enough to suggest that the government has been reckless.”
The statement said no matter how much he tries, Omisore and those in his league cannot succeed in finding anything untoward against Aregbesola because, according to the Bureau, his administration has created a culture of service to the people which has yielded tremenduous fruits.
Okanlawon’s statement added that the physical infrastructural projects completed and ongoing by Aregbesola and the services he has rendered in the areas of human capital development, health and security are all there for all to see.
“So, when some politicians want to cash in on the revenue crisis to misinform the people and set them against the same government they had applauded for its pro-people policies, they need to be wary of the selfish gains that are behind their self-serving clamours,” he added.
Source: www.theeagleonline.com.ng