Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State has been urged to prioritize workers’ welfare and payment of salaries instead of embarking on fruitless verification exercise of the workforce.
A non-governmental organization, Change Agent Movement, made the appeal in a statement by its Chairman and Secretary, Messrs Abolaji Adeosun and Malik Adehun, saying that similar exercise embarked upon in 2011 was used to milk the state resources.
The organization stated that the Ajimobi’s administration embarked on bio metric exercise in 2011 aimed at knowing the accurate number of workers in the civil service in order to nail ghost workers but instead of reducing the monies earmarked for salaries, it increased it.
“We urge the governor to make public the results of the 2011 bio metric exercise to justify the need for the present workers’ verification”, the group added.
According to the organization, “In 2011, Governor Ajimobi said he wanted to verify the workers in the state through bio metrics. The contract was given to an organization and it was agreed that the organization will be paid a certain percentage from the money saved through the exercise.
“However, it is sad to note that the biometric did not reduce the salaries being paid to workers but increased it. Instead of sticking to the agreement by not paying any percentage since no money was saved, Governor Ajimobi administration paid millions of naira as fee for the work that did not yield any positive results.
“It is better the governor faced his job of governance dutifully and stop embarking on fruitless efforts. The governor should embark on activities that will alleviate the suffering of the workers and the masses.
“The governor has never hidden his dislike for the work force. Or how do we describe his actions towards the workers since assumption of second term in office. He recently withdrew the free transport service he gave them for no concrete reason.
“We remember with nostalgia that he used the free transport to campaign for second term as part of his human face gestures. Not long after his assumption of office, he withdrew the buses based on what some workers termed as vendetta against them for what the governor described as non supportive action of the workers during the last elections.
“While other state executives were busy sorting out how to pay salaries, Governor Ajimobi left the shores of the country on July 9 to attend the intercontinental wedding of his daughter held in Lebanon, London and U.S while the workers in the state had a bleak Eid celebration as a result of the carefree attitude of the governor.
“Despite the bail out and monthly allocation funds to states, Governor Ajimobi has only paid March salaries for levels 1-10. The governor needs to change his ways and attitude towards the workers and the people of the state.
“By July 23 that Governor Ajimobi is expected to return after the 3-day official assignment with Mr President, he would have spent two weeks outside his duty post without properly handing affairs of the state to his deputy like his counterpart in Ogun state, Gov Ibikunle Amosun did when he was going to perform the lesser hajj in Saudi-Arabia for about 10days. We urge the governor to stop running the state like a family business.
“The governor should take a cue from the Eid lessons given by the Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, while reflecting on life-after-death in his deeds towards the people,” the group said.
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