The immediate past Governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola on Monday told the Senate that he never owed workers on Grade Level 1-7 a dime throughout his administration.
Aregbesola was being grilled as one of the ministerial nominees presented to the Senate for approval by President Muhammadu Buhari.
According to him, he ensured that civil servants on such level, which he said constituted 72 percent of the workforce, earned their salaries promptly contrary to believe that every civil servant was paid 50 percent.
“We ensured that between July 2015 and July 2018 that public servants on level one to seven and they constitute about 72 per cent in the state earned their full pay, contrary to the belief that every civil servant was paid 50 per cent.”
“Osun’s civil servant population is huge but it is top-heavy. Levels one to seven that constitute 72 per cent take N1 billion, while the fat cats who are less than 30 per cent take more than N2 billion.
“I never owed anyone on levels one to seven a dime because they wouldn’t be able to get by without their salaries,” he said.
He added: “Rumours of owed salaries in Osun during my tenure was due to mischief and ignorance. We came up with an approach that there is no month that any public official did not have a salary every month.”
Earlier, Aregbesola said Islamic prayers before addressing Senate, adding, “It simply means all praises and adoration is due to Allah.”
Senator Elisha Abbo has recounted how the immediate past Governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola gave him his salary in 2012 when he was in need.
Abbo, who allegedly beat up a woman in a sex toy shop in Abuja recently, was speaking on the floor of the Senate when Aregbesola was being screened for a ministerial appointment.
According to Abbo, when he contested the Local Government chairmanship election in Adamawa State in 2012, he visited the Government House in Osogbo and that the former governor gave him his whole month salary.
“In 2012, when I contested for LG chairman in Adamawa, I visited you in Government House, Osogbo and you gave me your whole salary for that month. I confirm your nomination,” he told the Senate.
Also, Senator Surajudeen Bashiru also said he earned N184,000 as commissioner in Aregbesola’s second term, saying that no commissioner got an official car.
“As a commissioner in (Aregebsola’s) second term, my take-home pay in total was N184,000. None of his commissioners got an official car and I did not get official accommodation,” he said.
