Alao Attacks Makinde On N11bn Wage Bill, 115,000 Workers Explanation

The Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has been attacked by the governorship candidate of the Alliance for Democracy, Oyedele Hakeem Alao, over his explanation on the eleven billion Naira wage bill and fifteen thousand workers on the payroll of the state.

Alao in his statement noted that the details given by the Governor Makinde on the wage bill and workers on the payroll of the state are not genuine.

He further stated that the people of Oyo State deserve more explanation from the Governor on how he arrived at the Eleven Billion Naira wage bill in the state and the fifteen thousand workers in the state.

Recall that the Governor while speaking at the Nigerian-American Business Forum in Tampa, Florida, United States a few weeks ago had noted that the state has 115,000 civil servants and a wage bill of N11 billion per month, which is just 1.4 per cent of the total population.

Gov. Makinde said, “Presently, Oyo State has 115,000 civil servants and a wage bill of N11 Billion per month, which is just 1.4 per cent of the total population. We can’t employ all the strong and energetic people in the state. Our job is to ensure we create opportunities that will be appealing to the private sector, so they can come in and provide employment opportunities for 10 per cent of the population who are presently unemployed and create more opportunities to attract further investment.”

Alao also challenged the Oyo State Governor to reveal how he arrived at the figures.

The Governor while speaking through the spokesperson of PDP in the state, Akeem Olatunji, described people criticizing the Governor as uninformed, mischievous and devious.

Olatunji stated that the opposition APC and some political minions including Hakeem Alao are confused and needed to be educated about running a state.

Alao while reacting to the state through his spokesperson, Omotayo Iyanda, noted that Makinde and the PDP Publicity Secretary should know that government is not a family enterprise.

He said, “It is wrong to claim that Makinde was in order to lump figures together as a “father” of the state. Everybody knows his father in his family. In this context, the matter of fathers does not arise at all. We should begin to put record straight if indeed we are educated.”

Alao noted that he is only calling for sanity and sanctity of running a sincere and transparent government for genuine development of the State and the benefits of its citizens and residents.

“Our concern is sanity and sanctity of running a sincere transparent government for genuine development of the state and the benefits of its citizens and residents.”

“However, sad that the party, through its Publicity Secretary, Mr Akeem Olatunji, has not really seen anything wrong in the way Governor Makinde lumped the figures of the workforce and the wage bill of both the local government and the state together. It is also said that Mr Olatunji, who is a beneficiary of the daylight fraud and robbery that put in place the present state exco of PDP and subsequently their government, digressed from the sanity of the allegation of inflation of figures by the governor to the dirty politics of the yore labelling the past administration.”

“Mr Olatunji should note that Oyedele Hakeem Alao, a reputable world-class practising engineer managing international multimillion dollars engineering companies, cannot be uninformed or confused unless Mr Olatunji, their party’s leader and their other co-travellers deliberately planned to deceive the people of the state to con them by twisting figures.”

“In our press release of Wednesday, 11 March 2019, which was the first eye-opener on the cleverness of Governor Makinde in the US, we categorically stated that the governor lumped the figures of the labour force and the wage bill of the state and the local government together and regarded the action as “illogical and preposterous. Mr Olatunji, as far as this matter is concerned, has only succeeded in rabble-rousing as a typical Nigerian politician.”

“We, hereby, state that it is unethical and an attempt to becloud and play a fast game with figures on the residents of the state by lumping the figures together as doing so is against the principle of accounting and auditing. The PDP state Publicity Secretary should know that government is not a family enterprise. So, it is wrong to claim that “Governor Makinde was in order” to lump figures together as a “father” of the state. Everybody knows his father in his family. In this context, the matter of fathers does not arise at all. We should begin to put record straight if indeed we are educated.”

“Indeed, Mr Akeem Olatunji’s party and leadership is a master in running a state government and that is why their government has earned a laurel in policy reverse and somersault, perhaps their team always act before thinking. Talking about integrity, what integrity is in a leader who corners every contract and project by awarding it to his agents and cronies? Where is integrity when you cannot honour a gentlemanly agreement reached with the main coalition forces ahead of the March 2019 governorship election and behaving like another emperor after the exit of one? Where is the integrity when you abandon the leaders and elder statesmen that worked for your victory?”.