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 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.”