A fact check conducted by Starnews Nigeria on the payment of workers’ salaries in Ondo State has revealed that Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu is owing a backlog of workers’ salaries contrary to his claim that his administration has paid workers’ salaries as when due.
Governor Akeredolu said on Tuesday that his administration has fulfilled its promise not to owe workers’ salaries in the state by paying the workers as when due.
He stated that the state workers had received their salaries up till November 2022 but the delay in December salary was due to the advice of the labour leaders in the state, to allow workers to meet new year financial obligations.
Akeredolu said this at the annual prayer meeting with the state public servants on Tuesday, the first working day of the year, held at the Governor’s office, Akure, the state capital.
But when Starnews Nigeria contacted some workers in Ondo State including local government staff, primary and secondary school teachers with senior staff and management of the Ondo State-owned tertiary institutions, it was discovered that both academic and non-academic staff of tertiary institutions are groaning over the backlog of unpaid salaries by the Akeredolu-led administration.
It was also revealed that the government is still owing salary arrears and leave bonuses to local government staff, primary and secondary school teachers and some medical staff in the state.
Starnews Nigeria reports that the affected institutions are the State Polytechnic in Owo; Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba; (AAUA) and Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology in Okitipupa (OASUSTECH).
In Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, the breakdown of outstanding salaries owned by the State government led by Akeredolu includes 40% of December 2016, 100% of January 2017, 30% of February 2022 and 100% of outstanding salaries from March to December 2022.
It means the state government is owing 11 Months of unpaid salaries of workers in this school (RUGIPO) with 70% of salary pending payment.
From AAUA, it was gathered from a management staff that September to December 2022 salaries have not yet been paid. The government is owing four months of unpaid workers’ salaries in the school.
OAUSTECH workers have also debunked the governor’s claim on Tuesday through a statement issued by Mr Dayo Temola, Chairman of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities in the institution.
In a statement obtained by Starnews Nigeria, the workers said, “we are shocked to hear that Ondo State Government had paid workers salaries up to date aside paying the backlog owed by the previous administration.
“However, we the workers of tertiary institutions in Ondo State are wallowing in penury due to unpaid salaries, non-implementation of approved wages such as minimum wages, earned allowances and third-party deductions.
“As of today, workers in OAUSTECH are being owed over four months aside over 10 months deductions of cooperatives (CMS), non-implementation of minimum wages, over five years of unpaid earned allowances among others.
“We, therefore, use the medium to appeal to Governor Akeredolu to intervene so that workers in tertiary institutions particularly Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology, Okitipupa in Ondo State can smile like their counterparts in the other sector of the state”, the statement said.
Similarly, Teachers of Primary and Secondary schools in Ondo State said the governor is not correct when they spoke with Starnews Nigeria in telephone interviews conducted separately by our correspondents.
Some head teachers of primary schools who spoke on behalf of workers said the state government is yet to pay the arrears of December Salary 2016 and January 2017 while 81% (per cent) of November salary in the year 2022 is still outstanding. They noted that December’s salary for the year 2022 has not been paid across the board. They also complained that the government has refused to pay their leave bonuses.
Similarly, the Ondo State Secondary school teachers said arrears of January 2017 and their leave bonuses have not been paid by the state government.
During a fact check conducted by Starnews Nigeria with the Local government’s staff in the state, it was learnt that the government is owing them December salaries of the year 2020 and January salaries of the year 2021 while November and December 2022 have not yet been paid with backlogs of leave bonuses outstanding.
Some medical staff in the state have also said the government is owing them contrary to the governor’s claim. The workers of the University of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital (UNIMEDTH) said they only received salaries up to October 2022.
According to them, The medical staff in Ondo State under Hospital Management Board had received their salaries up to November while those under UNIMEDTH are yet to be paid for November 2022.
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