Ondo : Why We Can’t Meet Our Obligations – Information Commissioner

By Ayodele Oni

Figures Don’t lie. To re-emphasise that, Ondo State Government has released its financial profile to justify its inability to meet some obligations, especially regular payment of workers salary.

Workers in the employ of the State Government just received their August salary, while some of them in Local Government and establishments are yet to receive theirs.

The Commissioner for Information, in an apparent attempt to justify the failure, on Sunday, released figures, indicating that revenues accruing to Government have dwindled.

Below is the analysis of Ondo Monthly Expenditure Profile as released by the Commissioner who claimed that Organised Labour sits in conjuction with Govt officials, led by the Head of Service, to decide the mode of payment every month.

“FAAC has been less than N2.4b monthly in the last three months. VAT has been between N1.8 and N1.9b.

“Mineral exchange is between 1.6 and 1.7b, IGR has dropped drastically since Covid-19.

“Amid these inflows are compulsory deductions from past administrations’ loans…for instance, we just defrayed the last administration’s Bond five months ago.

“Core Civil Service  1.6b, Tescom      1.3b, State Pension 950m, Judiciary  170m, Hope Newspaper 10m, Subvention to four tertiary institutions 520m.

Other monthly obligations include “Teaching hospital 170m, Ad Hoc staff 35m, Gratuity N200m, Leave Bonus  N193 m, OSOPADEC  N250m.

“Statutory Directors in the Ministry ought not to be more than six, considering the number of departments; but there are 220 Directors on a monthly pay of not less than N250k each.”

On Local Governments, the Commissioner added that N1.3 b is released monthly, SUBEB  N700m, LG Pension N980m.

“In Akure South alone, there are over 21 Grade Level 16 officers who may not be willing to teach in classrooms, Monthly salary wage of Political Office Holders is less than N100m.

“Let’s now have a comparative analysis of the number of Permanent Secretaries in neighbouring states; Ekiti has 15, Osun has five, Oyo has 10….Ondo, over 60.

“In the Health Sector, there are three main arms, HMB, Ministry of Health and Primary Health Care. In Ekiti, Medical Doctors are 98, Osun 56, Oyo 102, Ondo, 516(excluding newly recruited Medical Doctors in the Primary Health Care, who have not been admitted into the payroll), these include all Tertiary Health Institutions.”

The Commissioner however assured that despite the challenges, the state government would not Retrench, but rather evolve ingenious means to weather the storm