Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State, took his complaint of the Federal Government’s failure to pay his state’s, January budget support allocation of N1.1 billion to the Federal Ministry of Finance, yesterday.
He told newsmen in Abuja, that he was at the ministry to follow-up on the payment which he said his state deserved, just like all other states of the federation.
His words, “I believe I should do a follow-up today (yesterday) to meet with the Minister of Finance for an update because she actually called me on Tuesday that she just got back but she is going to look into it today (yesterday) and have it resolved as soon as possible.
“You will however appreciate that Ekiti civil servants are restive, having spent Christmas and there is no money in January, obviously there will be challenges.
“By the time I got here the Minister had already gone for the Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting, but I met the Special Adviser, who assured me that the matter will be resolved when the Minister returns.
“What we are talking about is part of the monthly allocation and the budget support which is about N1.1billion that has not been paid.
“I believe this should be done immediately and I want to believe also that it was a mix up and not politically motivated but if it is political, they will have a lot of questions to answer why it should be so.
“If they want to fight Fayose, they should fight Fayose, not the civil servants of Ekiti, but I appreciate her promise to resolve the matter promptly.
“So, naturally I have to be here when it happened to be Ekiti State alone, I have to be suspicious. The Minister has given me her word, at her level as a minister, that is good enough.
“If the promise of the Minister to resolve this issue as quickly as possible is not adhered to, I will have to bring it back to the public domain. We are all in the court of the public opinion where the public is able to judge whether justice is served at all times. Governance is beyond all of us but I want to believe that they will do it.”
APC challenges him to tell the truth
Meantime, the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Ekiti State has faulted claim made by the governor over alleged withholding of the state’s January allocation by the Federal government, saying what was withheld is the special funds approved by the Federal Government for budget support intervention to the states.
This came as a former Deputy Governor of the state and governorship aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Dr Sikiru Tae Lawal, condemned the alleged withholding of Ekiti State’s January allocation.
The APC said, contrary to Governor Fayose’s misinformation to instigate Ekiti people against President Muhammadu Buhari and blackmail APC-led Federal Government as responsible for his inability to pay workers, it is the governor that should be blamed for the breach of agreement he signed with the Federal Government to enjoy the facility.
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