Osun Earned N204bn In Four Years – Aregbesola

The Osun State Governor, Mr. Rauf
Aregbesola, said on Tuesday that the
state earned N204bn from the federation
account, internally generated revenues
and other accruals from Abuja between
2010 and 2014.
The governor gave this explanation in
his speech when he inaugurated the sixth
assembly in the state.
Aregbesola spoke just as Mr. Najeem
Salaam was returned as the Speaker of
the House of Assembly for the second
term.
The governor, who was obviously
reacting to allegations of financial
recklessness levelled against his
administration by the Social Democratic
Party in the state, denied exposing the
state to a financial crisis.
While promising that things would soon
get better, the governor traced the
genesis of the financial crisis in the state
to 2012 when salaries increased
drastically as a result of hike in wages.
Aregbesola said, “The summary of five
years reveal that in the two months of
2010, we received a net allocation of
N4.2bn and paid emoluments of N3.6bn.
This left us with a net gain of N573m
from our statutory allocation.
“In 2011 also, we got N29.9bn allocation
and spent N25.8bn on emoluments with
a net gain of N4bn. However, in 2012,
we got N28.4bn and expended N31.6bn
on emoluments.
“This left us, for the first time, with a
deficit of N3.2bn. The following year,
2013, our statutory allocation had
dropped to N26.4bn while our
emoluments rose to N36.9bn. This gave
us a whopping N10.4bn deficit.
“In 2014, our statutory allocation fell
further to N19.3bn and by which time
we were already defaulting on some of
our obligations on emoluments.
“In summary, between November 2010
and December 2014, we got a total
statutory allocation of N108.3bn and our
expenditure on emoluments was
N120.4bn. It left us with a total deficit of
N12bn.
“Aside from expenditure on salaries, if
other emoluments are to be included, the
total recurrent expenditure will be
N206bn and statutory allocation will be
N108.3bn. With other accruals from
Abuja, it will add up to N176.5bn,
leaving the state with a deficit of almost
N30bn.”
“Even when we add our internally
generated revenue, we were still only
able to muster N204bn and still short by
N2bn. It simply means that all our
earnings from all sources between 2010
and 2014 could not carry our recurrent
expenditure.”
Responding, the new Speaker appealed
to workers, who have been on strike for
a week, to end the industrial action in
the interest of the state.
Salaam said that the state government
had been working hard to ensure that
the six months’ salaries were paid.
He said, “The delay in salary will soon be
resolved and our state’s economy will
return to its vibrant status. So, I can
assure you that the governor is working
round the clock to bring the salary
impasse to an end.
“I, therefore, call on our able workers to
please end the current strike they
embark on in the interest of our state
and people.”