Oyo Governor Makinde Announces Payment of Double Salaries to Workers in December

Since his inauguration as governor of Oyo on May 29, Seyi Makinde said in a media chat he held in Ibadan, the capital of the state, that he has continued using his private car.

• Seyi Makinde, governor of Oyo, says he and other officials in the government have continued to use their private cars to reduce cost of governance
• Makinde also promises to pay double salaries to workers in the state’s civil service in December 2019
• The governor alleges that officials in the last administration took over N5 billion from the state coffers and left only N19,000

The governor also promised that he would pay what is described as ’13th month’ to workers in the state. This means that those in the civil service would be getting double salaries in December this year.

The governor also said he had not bought a car for any of the officials in his government as part of the sacrifices they have to make for a better Oyo state.

The governor said the decision that he and all functionaries should use their private cars had saved the state between N3 billion and N4 billion, which could have been expended on vehicles.

Makinde says the state’s treasury was almost dry when he took over on May 29.
In a statement made available to Legit.ng by Taiwo Adisa, his spokesperson, Governor Makinde said his government will continue to make the welfare of the people of the state a priority.

“It is true that when we came in, we cannot be talking about the money we met on the ground because if we do, some people won’t be allowed to walk freely in the street. If you look at it, till now, I am using my personal cars for office work.

“We have not also gotten cars for any of the political officeholders. If we want to get that done, we will be talking about N3 billion or N4 billion. So, we stepped it down. We had to prioritise on what we think we can do for the people of Oyo State who gave us this mandate,” he said.

Talking about what he met when he took over office from the administration of Abiola Ajimobi, he said: “On the 6th of May, those who worked with the past administration collected N5.2 billion and left N19,000 as of the 29th of May. Those involved will still have to explain to the people.”

He said the discovery scared him to the extent that his government had to run to the state House of Assembly for approval to borrow N10 billion.
Legit.ng reported that the Supreme Court on Wednesday, December 18, delivered judgement in the governorship election in Oyo declaring Seyi Makinde as the actual winner of the exercise held on March 9.

The news has caused jubilation in Ibadan and other parts of the state, it was learned.