Mr. Wakeel Amuda, the Osun State chapter chairman of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT), has denied reports that any teacher in the state has received any outstanding salaries by the state government.
Over the weekend, there were reports that workers in the state had been receiving alerts for three months outstanding salaries.
The PUNCH reports that Amuda however denied all such claims saying that politicians were behind the rumour in a telephone interview on Sunday, June 28, 2015.
He said, “It is all lies.We have not received any payment alert. Some politicians are behind the rumour. A politician told me that a civil servant had received salary alert around noon today (Sunday). I followed him to the person but there was no evidence that his salary has been paid. It is a lie.”
The state’s Nigeria Labour Congress chairman, Mr. Jacob Adekomi, could not be reached as all calls made to him indicated that his phone was switched off. An Osun State worker in one of the local told PUNCH that they were still expecting evidence of payment as that the evening of Sunday, June 28.
The worker who spoke on the terms of anonymity described the rumours of paid salaries as unfounded as he was yet to receive any salary alert.
The Peoples Democratic Party in Osun State has blasted the Governor Rauf Aregbesola led state government for misleading Nigerians to believe that the workers salary has been paid. The PDP accused the state government of orchestrating the rumours of paid salaries through social media in a statement released by the party’s state Director of Publicity, Mr. Diran Odeyemi in Osogbo on Sunday, June 28.
The statement read in part, “Few hours to the June 30 deadline that Governor Rauf Aregbesola set for himself for the payment of all outstanding workers salaries and pension, no single worker has been paid.
“We consider this as wicked and insensitive. Many of the workers owing landlords and various people are being harassed for payments due to the online propaganda of the state government.
“Why is everything about Aregbesola’s government shrouded in lies, mystery and secrecy?
“Through our findings, we can confirm that no Osun worker has been paid. We also demand information on how and where Ogbeni Aregbesola got money to pay workers. Was the money made available by banks or he had it and just preferred to withhold payment? We need information.”
All efforts to get reach Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, the governor’s media aide on the issue proved abortive as calls to his mobile phone went unanswered.
