The Ekiti State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused Governor Ayo Fayose of deceiving the workers and the public on the state’s share of Paris Club refund.
The party faulted the governor’s claim during his last media chat that the state got N4 billion instead of N9.6 billion released to it and reportedly published by the Federal Ministry of Finance.
Fayose had said on the programme and at a forum with labour leaders that “the money due to Ekiti was half of the last refund of N8.8 billion”.
He said debt deductions and local government share of the refund had shrunk the balance to N4 billion.
ýIn the table of Paris Club refunds to all the 36 states released by the Federal Ministry of Finance, Ekiti State’s share is N9.6 billion, APC said.
In a statement yesterday, APC Publicity Secretary Taiwo Olatunbosun said Fayose was only applying “his usual distortion of facts to brainwash Ekiti workers and people …to misapply the money for selfish reasons”.
Olatunbosun noted that the refund is neither subject to any deduction over debts nor having any local government component that would make the cash shared to Ekiti State to be less than N9.6 billion, as published by the Federal Government.
According to him, only statutory allocations are subject to deductions over state’s debts.
The APC spokesman said conditions were attached to the refund, including the payment of backlog of workers’ salaries and other benefits.
He said: “Fayose, in his usual manner during his last media chat, denied that Ekiti share of the Paris Club refund is N9.6 billion but N8.8 billion, which he further reduced to N4.4 billion in his usual mathematical abracadabra to divert the money once again.
“Fayose hinted during the programme that what Ekiti got as refund from the Paris Club could barely pay a month’s salary because of deductions.
“We challenge Governor Fayose over this false claim as the Paris refund is not subject to any deduction. It is the state’s monthly allocation that is subject to deduction while the local government allocation is also not subject to deduction.
“It was Ekiti State government that borrowed money from the Paris Club and not the local governments; so, refunds cannot be made to local governments.
“The N9.6 billion refund is exclusively for the state government to pay salary. So, any other claims by Fayose to brainwash the workers to deny them their entitlements once again is not only wicked and selfish but also a fraudulent practice that Fayose has elevated to an official policy to short-change the state and her people at all times.”
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