PDP To Blame For Workers Delayed Salaries, Says Fayemi

Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has attributed the delay in payment of workers' salaries for the month of August to the lies being peddled by the state chapter of Peoples Democratic Party.

In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Yinka Oyebode, Fayemi lamented that the party in the last two weeks had been feeding the public with unfounded allegations of shady deals levelled against the incumbent administration.

The PDP had recently accused the outgoing administration of engaging in last minute recruitment of workers and suspicious financial dealings with banks among others.

Fayemi challenged the PDP to mention the banks where the alleged illegal financial dealings took place and explain where the 3,000 workers were recruited illegally.

According to him, no party or transition committee would make such malicious allegations against the incumbent administration, especially when such claims are unfounded.

The governor said he had run the affairs of the state in the last four years with utmost regard for public accountability and fiscal responsibility laws, a development that had earned the state accolades from relevant authorities and rating organisations both locally and internationally.

"Having built a reputation of service and integrity over the years, nothing- not even a controversial loss in an election – would make us go back on this path of honour. Neither are we going to succumb to cheap and infantile blackmail", the statement said.

Affirming that the allegations of the PDP were not only wicked, reckless and malicious, the statement added that it was a calculated attempt to tarnish the reputation of the current administration in the state and an anticipatory excuse for lack of performance when the new government gets into office.

Fayemi noted that it was the first time that workers salary had been delayed in almost four years of his administration as a result of the panic created in financial institutions dealing with the state by the Governor-elect, Dr. Ayo Fayose.

It would be recalled that the governor-elect had on Friday threatened to take legal action against any bank that involves itself in any suspicious transaction with the present administration.

"If Mr. Fayose and his team believe that indeed many of these allegations have any iota of truth in them, one would have expected that a team that espouses a commitment to cooperation and reconciliation would have made an effort to seek further clarification on the many destructive allegations before rushing to the press if this was not a calculated agenda to malign and manipulate public opinion."

"For a party that is set to form government in a matter of weeks to seek to discredit the incumbent administration, through sheer falsehood and blackmail is simply irresponsible and childish.

"Instead of turning this into a political poker, one would have expected the incoming administration to work closely with the outgoing government by closing ranks in the interest of the State.

"The same goes for the irresponsible accusation of a debt overhang. What the Fayemi administration has done with the state's borrowings under its watch is public knowledge (in the roads infrastructure, the new Govt House, the new EkitiParapo Pavillion, Lagos Liaison Office, revival of Ire Clay Factory, resuscitation of Ikogosi Warm Springs Resort, the new College of Agriculture, the markets in the 16 LGAs) and can be obtained from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

"If the incoming administration discovers anything untoward or manifestly illegal in the application of the bond's funds, it should feel free to set criminal investigation in motion and unravel the truth. The Fayemi administration has absolutely nothing to be afraid of as a government founded on the core principles of accountability and transparency".

Fayemi maintained that the PDP's lies will not change anything as his tenure would end on October 15 and the incoming government would be inaugurated on the 16th.

"Therefore, we, as a responsible government, owe it a duty to continue to provide purposeful leadership for the people of our dear state.

"Having started well on the path of honour and credibility, we intend to end well by ensuring that all projects and programmes of the administrations are fully actualised in a honest and responsible way that has been the hallmark of our administration.

"Having built a reputation of credibility and excellent service delivery, loads of lies and campaign of calumny by the PDP cannot distract us.

"Our concern is that the PDP by its infantile attitude would cause the incoming administration to start on a faulty note. Because our people, having seen through their lies, would tag the incoming administration as one that lacks integrity and credibility".