BEVERLY HILLS, June 14, (THEWILL) – A former Commissioner for Finance in Ekiti State, Dapo Kolawole, has accused the Governor, Ayodele Fayose, of having the funds to pay salaries for at least three of the five months he owes workers of the state but chose to divert it.
Kolawole, who was Commissioner for finance in the state between 2010 and 2014, said if the state’s resources were properly managed, the state wouldn’t be in the present economic mess as he cited “gross incompetence” and “lack of capacity” on the part of the Governor for the lingering economic crisis in the state.
Speaking with journalists in Abuja, on Tuesday, Kolawole added that the economic crisis in the state was being compounded because Fayose was running the government on a negative goodwill, having failed to attract support from developmental agencies, institutions and well-meaning citizens of the state.
He challenged Fayose to explain why local government workers are being owed, since local government fund is sourced directly from the federation account and details of how the Federal Government’s refund on federal roads was spent.
“Other state governments have embraced the task of governance with every sense of responsibility, thereby re-positioning their states,” Kolawole said
“But what do we have in Ekiti? We have someone who never promised anything, so cannot deliver anything. Fayose lacks the required capacity to lead at a critical moment.
“For instance, Fayose must be asked what he did with the loans he had taken in the last few months. This include N10 billion bank loan, N9.6billion bailout, N2billion micro credit fund obtained from CBN as well as monthly allocations and IGR for 20 months, which remained largely unaccounted for.
“It is high time Fayose faced the serious task of governance and did away with brigandage. A government that plays on the intelligence of its workers by giving them bank payment alerts only to withdraw it hours later is not only mean, it is criminal.”
Story by David Oputah
