Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, the governor of Ondo State, has said that he reviewed his earlier stance on not to borrow to pay salaries because he could not allow workers to be seen as suffering due to no fault of his administration.
The governor in January began payment of percentage salary because allocation from the federation account for December 2020 was N2.3 billion, after the deductions of government obligations, whereas total gross salary (net + deductions) payable to all categories of workers summed up to N5.21 billion.
Payment of percentage salary made doctors in the government employ to embark on an indefinite strike.
The doctors called off the strike last month, but they refused to resume duty over non-payment of their outstanding salaries.
Akeredolu, who spoke at a meeting with the doctors, said it is painful that the state now borrows to pay salaries.
He, however, noted that the danger of borrowing to pay salary is that the future is being consumed, as money goes into the recurrent expenditure than capital expenditure.
The governor, who directed immediate payment of the doctors’ salary, said the stalemate that led to their industrial action followed lack of understanding from a section of their association.
He said he was not happy with the financial situation of the state.
Akeredolu said: “As regards the salaries of those who have not been paid, I can assure you that the money is intact. It has been kept in an escrow account.
“I thank God that we can come together as brothers, sisters, and stakeholders to talk about the Ondo project. We all have fundamental roles and responsibilities to our people. The only difference is the distribution of positions as given by God.
“My role cannot be more important than yours as doctors because I cannot save lives, but you do. Honestly, if language permits, you are not unhappier than me about what we have been made to contend with financially in the state. We know it is a global issue, but we are more concerned about how it affects us.
“The most painful thing is that we now borrow money to pay salaries because it got to that point where we cannot allow our workers to be seen as suffering due to no fault of ours. But if it is to bend backward to keep our workers afloat, we shall not hesitate. This is why we are reviewing our earlier stand that we would not borrow to pay salaries. The danger, however, remains that we are eating our future, as more goes into the recurrent than the capital expenditure as it were.”
Stella Adegbehingbe, the chairman, Ondo chapter of the Nigeria Medical Association, promised that the doctors would henceforth proritise the welfare of residents.
Source: The Nation
