Pay workers salary, pension, PDP chieftain tells Ajimobi

A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Kehinde Ayanwale has advised the Oyo State governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, to concentrate on the prompt payment of salaries and pensions of civil servants who toil day and night to make the state what it is today.

Ayanwale, who is also the publisher of Entertainer International Magazine, gave this advice yesterday while speaking with newsmen in Ibadan against the backdrop of backlog of salaries and pension arrears owed by the state government.

He counseled Senator Ajimobi to focus more and device means to offset the salary arrears owed the workers instead of embarking on new projects that will be abandoned and become a drain pipe on the state

Commenting on the the N50bn endowment fund recently launched by Senator Ajimobi to revamp the health sector, Ayanwale was of the opinion that the governor’s performance in the last six years was not good enough to guarantee a successful completion of the programme.

“I think Senator Ajimobi at this juncture should prioritise what should be the focus of his administration. Civil servants across the state are suffering because of the inability of the state government to pay their salary as at when due. This is not the time to embark on any bogus project that will be later abandoned and become a drain pipe on the state. His focus should be prompt payment of salaries and pension of those who have served the state. And if that is the only legacy he can leave behind, so be it.”

The PDP chieftain also allayed fears about the resurgence of crisis in the party , especially in the South West region, saying that the elders of the party would soon meet to resolve all the grey areas amicably.

He, however, criticized the governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayo Fayose for his role in the crisis tearing the party apart in the South West.

Ayanwale said if Fayose had reciprocated the good gesture extended to him when he was contesting in 2014 by one of the chieftains of the party, Senator Buruji Kashamu, instead of attacking him ceaselessly, the crisis wouldn’t have escalated.

His words, “Senator Buruji Kashamu was among those who financed the gubernatorial election of Fayose in 2014. Why is he attacking him now? Is it because he is governor now that he thinks he could brow beat everyone to follow his own line of thought,” he queried.

On the speculation that he is warming up to take a shot at the governorship of Oyo State come 2019, Ayanwale said he is waiting for the directives from the elders and leaders of the PDP, adding that he is not desperate for political office.

“Politics should be service to humanity and not a means for personal aggrandisement. So I am waiting for our leaders to decide what role I will play in the forthcoming political arrangement. You know that I am a lawyer and I also publish an international magazine. So I am a technocrat in politics and not the professional politician that will see public office as do or die affairs.”