My govt won’t renege in pension, salary arrears payment – Fayemi

The Governor of Ekiti state, Kayode Fayemi, has insisted that he will not renege on his promise to pay up all the salary and pension arrears owed workers by the former administration of Governor Ayo Fayose in the state.

Gov. Fayemi had upon his inauguration last October, promised to defray the salary and pension arrears before his first one year in office.

Unfortunately, the governor having not been able to fulfil his promise attributed the inability to pay the arrears to the paucity of funds, but insisted that he would not disappoint the people.

He spoke in Ado Ekiti on Wednesday while delivering the state -of- the- state address at the Ekiti state House of Assembly to mark the first year of his second tenure.

The governor, while assuring the state workers that all the arrears will be paid said: “Let me assure our workers that your salary arrears are not bad debts.

“I acknowledge your contributions to the growth of our state and as a government we are going to ensure that we pay all that are outstanding.”

Gov. Fayemi said he will not renege on his promise to begin the implementation of the N30, 000 minimum wage commencing from this month.

The governor added that in his mission to deliver on his promises, the state now enjoys strong ties with the African Development Bank (AfDB), Islamic Bank, United States of America Development for International Affairs (USAid), the World Health Organisation (WHO), British Department for International Affairs (DFID) and other federal government agencies.

“All these agencies are now working assiduously with us to ensure massive development and turning around decrepit facilities into models,” he said.

He said the newly revamped Ikun dairy farm will produce 9, 000 litres of milk daily, while the social security scheme has been re-launched to give stipends to elderly Ekiti men and women.

“As we progress into the future, we are hopeful that we will do better in our second year because we have laid a solid foundation. We are looking forward to a future full of hope; a future without poverty and a future with progress and prosperity.

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“You should expect more developmental projects next year because the African Development Bank funded airport, Ado Ekiti Ring Road, dualisation of Ado-Akure Road, 1, 000 kilometre rural roads across all the 16 councils and others would have been completed in our second year.

“I appreciate Ekiti people for their support and I solicit more working partnership with the legislative arm and the judiciary for me to be able to make more positively impactful strides as I proceed into the second year of our administration,” the governor added.

The Speaker, Funminiyi Afuye stated that Gov. Fayemi’s second term was ordained by God to stop what he described as the ill -tempered and oppressive administration of the past government.