The All Progressives Congress in Ekiti State has said the fresh cash allocation of N8.5 billion that accrued to the state in June is an opportunity for Governor Ayodele Fayose to hit the ground running for the development of the state
The party urged Ekiti State people to check for the details of the state’s allocations on government website: www.fmf.gov.ng andwww.oagf.gv.ng for the true position on actual accruals to the state.
It added that it is no longer fashionable for Fayose to continue to deceive Ekiti State people about shortage of funds as the June allocation of whopping N8.5 billion distributed in July is enough to put the state on a firm financial footing.
Giving the breakdown of the allocation in a statement in Ado Ekiti, the Publicity Secretary of the APC, Taiwo Olatunbosun, said Fayose had received N2.1 billion bailout fund, N2.6 billion statutory allocation, VAT allocation cash of 598.8 million, all totalling N5.4 billion accruing to the state in June.
Olatunbosun added that in the same month, the governor received N3. billion for the local governments, making N8.5 billion as the total cash coming to the state.
He explained that after all deductions, the state was still left with N7. 9 billion.
Olatunbosun said this revelation by the Federal Ministry of Finance had vindicated APC’s position and claim debunking alleged lies by the governor that he did not collect the allocation for September 2014 in the month of October as the reason he always gave for not paying September 2014 salary till date.
He said: “We have said it many times that there is no justification for Fayose to continue to claim that the N2.1 billion bail-out fund is the normal allocation for the state, a reason for which he has been attacking President Muhammadu Buhari all this while.
“We wish to now reveal to Ekiti people that Fayose also got the normal state allocation of N2. 6 billion in addition to the bailout fund of N2.1 billion earlier received.
“We had expected Fayose to tell Ekiti people that he had received such a colossal amount in June alone as he always boasts that he will not collect that kind of money without letting the people know about it.”
The APC spokesman explained that the N8.5 billion cash is outside the N22 billion refund on federal projects, which the governor had not accounted for, adding that Fayose had also collected another N2 billion ecological fund without any proof of ecological project he could claim to have executed with the cash.
“While the governor accessed these funds, he has continued to sing ‘no fund song’ while he has not accounted for how he spent the N2 billion micro credit loan the Adewale Omirin-led House of Assembly empowered the governor to access to help small scale businesses for the poor Ekiti people,” he said.
The party regretted that though the cash was colossal, the governor could not point to any project he had executed with it, while he had also refused to pay workers their 2014 September salary after collecting September allocation, including failure to fulfil his financial statutory obligations to other segments of the society.
The statement added: “The governor is owing five months arrears to pensioners, five months subventions to higher institutions and four months salary arrears to traditional rulers and we ask; what exactly is the governor doing with Ekiti money except travelling to Dubai and South Africa immediately after receiving federal allocations?
“It is glaring that Fayose has no plan for the development of the state, neither does he have the interest of the workers and pensioners at heart. Despite the huge sums that accrued to the state in the last 10 months, and in spite of a six-month moratorium on debts payment, which saved the state N3 billion, Fayose has continued to complain of paucity of funds.
“We charge all stakeholders in Ekiti State to ask Fayose to account for all the monies he had collected since he assumed office and to tell Ekiti how he spent over N8.5 billion he collected in June, including the state allocation that excludes the Internally Generated Revenue, which runs to millions of naira. Fayose should know that a government of accountability is now at the Federal level and there is no more room for any financial abracadabra.
“We wish to remind Fayose that the end has come for impunity and cloudy handling of government appropriations. Ekiti people will not accept any shoddy deal again as the N1.3 billion poultry scam case is still pending with the EFCC in court.”
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