All Progressives Congress has congratulated the people of Osun, especially residents of Osogbo for routing PDP’s attempt at creating mayhem in the state capital today (Tuesday).

The PDP had mobilised a dubious coalition of so-called civil society ‘activists’ to demonstrate in support of civil servants’ strike over the salaries’ crisis, which the APC government of President Mohammadu Buhari has now resolved.

But unknown to the PDP, a huge crowd of APC supporters had gathered to celebrate‎ the Federal government’s intervention to help states that have been unable to pay workers salaries as a result of the massive looting of the nation’s treasury by the ousted Goodluck Jonathan-led PDP government.

Before the PDP-sponsored hoodlums, in the name of civil society ‘activitists’ knew what was happening, an intimidating crowd of jubilant APC supporters emerged from the Alekuwodo axis of the state capital, Osogbo, and advanced to the potential trouble makers that were waiting at Olaiya.

On sighting the crowd, the PDP-sponsored ‘activists’ fled in panic, some of them losing their shoes and fex caps in the process.

Shortly afterwards, the triumphant ‎moment arrived as the governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola drove up to the jubilant crowd on his way to work at Abere. The scene was like mini-rally.

The APC hailed the people for this emphatic demonstration of solidarity with the governor and his Party in spite of the vicious campaign of hate and demonization of the Aregbesola government which the PDP has orchestrated in the last couple of weeks.

The party also thanked the security forces for standing firm in defence of law and order, which effectively kept in check agents and sponsors of chaos and violence in the state of Osun.

Finally, the APC also thanked President Buhari for coming to the aid of all Nigerian workers whose lives were made miserable by PDP’s crime of looting the nation’s treasury, and systematically destroying Nigeria’s economy.

‘The people of Nigeria and Osun in particular will for ever remember this action of Buhari, which signals the possibility of a progressive future for the country’, the APC said.

Barr. Kunle Oyatomi

Director of Publicity, Research and Strategy,

APC, State of Osun.

The Alliance of Collaborating Political Parties (ACPP) in Osun state has accused Justice Oloyede Folahanmi who called for the impeachment of Governor Rauf Aregbesola, of being partisan and mischievous on her petition sent to the Osun state House of Assembly.

According to the ACPP, loss of patronage from politicians and government officials in particular, propelled Folahanmi to send the petition with a sole aim of discrediting Aregbesola’s administration.

ACPP in a press release titled: “A judge in political garb” a copy of which was made available to our correspondent on Thursday chided Folahanmi for what it described as misguided step in writing the petition, saying that her act constituted an embarrassment to the judiciary.

The ACPP in the release signed by its Chairman and Secretary, Alhaji Adetunji Oyolola and Dr Idowu Omidiji respectively maintained that it was a gross misconduct for a sitting judge to write a petition against a governor and also called for his impeachment.

The political group said: “A judge is a representative of God on earth as they are imbued with the power to determine life and death in certain cases. Judges are not ordinary person, they are seen as specie of person that must be honoured and revered by all other mortal.

“A 36-page umbrage by the sitting Justice Olamide Oloyede against Governor Rauf Aregbesola and his deputy, Otunba Grace Titi Laoye-Tomori is to say the least an embarrassment to the judiciary.

“We have it on good record authority that the reason behind Justice Folahanmi Olamide Oloyede recent diatribe was the loss of patronage and undue advantage she enjoyed over and above other judges during Olagunsoye Oyinlola’s regime.

“Her ignoble role as the Chief Registrar before her elevation as judge is a topic meant for another day. If a sitting judge now put himself or herself up as a spokesperson of a disgraced opposition, it is indeed a clear sign that the judiciary which is revered is going to be the abyss.

“We call on the Judicial Service Commission and the National Judicial Council to wade in and wield the big stick in ensuring that sanity is restored in the judiciary.”

Political parties under the ACPP included National Conscience Party (NCP), Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA), United Democratic Party (UDP), Independent Democrat (ID) New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) and United Peoples Party UPP), among others.

Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State recently, promised to champion a way out of the state’s inability to pay salaries owed workers in the state for months.
He made the statement while addressing  the public on issues and challenges facing Osun state at #MondayTango, a social media hangout organized by a non-governmental body, Human and Environmental Development Agenda, HEDA Resource Centre.

However, Aregbesola disagreed with critics who believed the state’s insolvency was as a result of social or physical infrastructure projects embarked upon by his administration.
He said that the state is streamlining obligations and ramping up revenue and investments, confirming that the state currently owes State workers 6 months salaries and 4 Month to Local Government Workers and Primary School Teachers.
“We take responsibility and are working our way out of this unfortunate quagmire. At the core of this is the National problem of Big Government. These challenges weren’t caused by our social or physical infrastructure project. Osun needs these, if its ever to be independent.
“The unforeseen crash in revenue of 2013 and 2014 led to the situation. The size of government should reduce. A situation where wages take at least 70% of revenue is worrisome. ” Ogbeni Aregbesola said.
VANGUARD

The All Progressives Congress in Osun state on Monday called on the police, Directorate of State Security and other security agencies to keep a good watch on the Peoples Democratic Party and its governorship candidate of the party in 2014 election, Senator Iyiola Omisore.
This was as the Nigeria Labour Congress, Osun said it has dissociated itself from the protests saying those behind the proposed protests are on their own selfish agenda.
The party said it was sure Omisore and PDP are behind a plot to create mayhem as part of the plans to bring down the Rauf Aregbesola administration.
This was just as a group called Civil Societies’ Coalition for Emancipation of Osun State (CSCEO) said it was planning a protest in Osogbo, the state capital to remove Aregbesola from office.
The Osun APC, in a statement by the Director of Media and Strategy, Barrister Kunle Oyatomi, said it was aware of plans by a group of profiteers who are being sponsored by Omisore and his party to unleash violence on the state using the issue of workers’ salaries as camouflage.
The party said, “Specifically we must alert the whole world to a threat issued by Omisore on June 14 this year at the secretariat of the PDP in Osogbo where he promised members of his party that he was prepared to make this state ungovernable for Governor Rauf Aregesola.
“We are therefore certain that the whole crisis being orchestrated in the state is to criminally (treason) seek to get what the entire people of Osun had denied him through a democratic process on August 9, 2014. This was his resolution after the Supreme Court decision which finally sealed his ambition through a pronouncement on May 27, this year.
“We are using this medium to inform members of the public and the media to be wary of activities of this set of opportunists who are the real profiteers behind the undeserved focus on Osun among the more than 20 states that are currently facing salary challenges.
The coalition group which claimed it is gathering over .5 million people across Osun State for anti-Aregbesola rally on Tuesday, July 7, said the minimum they rdemand is the removal of the governor.
 
The group’s Chairman, Comrade Adeniyi Sulaiman Alimi gave the names of association ready for the rally as The Voices, KIMPACT, Centre for Human Rights and Social Justice, Grassroot Democratic Network, Christian Initiative for Nation Building, Christian Leadership Mobilisation and Better Future Initiative.
Others are Nigerian Union of Pensioners (NUP), Justice, Development and Peace Commission Movement (JDPCM), Positive Movement, Good Governance Support Group, Democratic Socialist Movement and Conference of National Political Parties (CNPP).
Alimi explained that over three petitions including the one sent by a state serving judge, Justice Folaranmi Oloyede calling for Aregbesola’s probe and impeachment are presently before members of the state House of Assembly and the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC).
“Our demand is nothing but the removal of Ogbeni Aregbesola. If a chieftain of his party and indeed a former National Chairman of APC and a one-time governor of Osun state, Chief Adebisi Akande can declare that 24-year old Osun is not viable under Aregbesola, then, we are of the view that the man at the helm of affairs should quit”, he stated.
However, the Nigeria Politics Online gathered that one of the organisations listed as a member of the coalition, the Justice Development and Peace Commission, JDPC, said its name is only being used without its knowledge.
As at the time of filing this report, the NLC chairman in the state, Mr. Jacob Adekomi, said the NLC is embarrased by the proposed protests, saying “We dont know anything about it. We have been having discussions with the government and we are very hopeful that these will yield good result. So, we can tell you that that protests, if they embark on it, is not for the workers but for the interests of the politicians.”
NIGERIAN POLITICS

Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Governor of the State of Osun has said that ‘Poverty is our Nation’s greatest security challenge’.
The governor made the statement on Monday during a session on #MondayTango through his social media handle – @raufaregbesola – noting that the only solution to poverty is the welfare of the people.
He said that the state is streamlining obligations and ramping up revenue and investments, confirming that the state currently owes State workers 6 months salaries and 4 Month to Local Government Workers and Primary School Teachers.
“We take responsibility and are working our way out of this unfortunate quagmire. At the core of this is the National problem of Big Government. These challenges weren’t caused by our social or physical infrastructure project. Osun needs these, if its ever to be independent.
“The unforeseen crash in revenue of 2013 and 2014 led to the situation. The size of government should reduce. A situation where wages take at least 70% of revenue is worrisome.” Ogbeni Aregbesola said.

• Below are live tweets from his handle:

It’s been a tough few days. We were at the height of concluding efforts for the first set of arrears payment last Monday. #MondayTango

— Rauf Aregbesola (@raufaregbesola) July 6, 2015
 

Osun State government has remained in the news for some time over its inability to pay workers’ salaries. An economist, John Ogunlela, properly situates the challenges facing the government
The Osun financial challenge is an unfortunate one for which thousands of workers are in a difficult situation as to their sustenance. It is a challenge for which no excuse is justifiable and arguably poses leadership’s toughest test.
The Osun State government is taking its bull by the horn in this regard. While the administration is most saddened by this heart-rending situation, it is working hard to restore Osun to the rather comforting normalcy of people-centred development that the state has in recent times been symbolic of.
The administration is working with its partners to streamline its obligations and expenditures, boost its revenue so as to deal decisively with this problem and in so doing, champion a model for other states and the nation.
The challenge predominantly affects around 35,000 state civil service workers, whose salary arrears of about six months are owed. Teachers and local government workers are to a large extent least affected by this situation.
Concisely, the state civil service represents around one per cent of the population and takes up wages to the tune of N3.6 billion per month. This adds up to a yearly bill of N43.2billion that represents at least 70 per cent of the government’s statutory revenue. This wage bill largely bloats the recurrent expenditure at the expense of development programmes for the remaining 99 per cent of the population. This lopsided spending between recurrent and capital expenditure is unfortunately common across the country and is one needing of a bold solution. In the case of Osun, it is not unconnected to the legacy of a bloated government inherited since its creation in 1991.
While this delay in arrears has its attendant effect on the state’s economy, the notion that this problem affects majority of the population is somewhat incorrect. According to RENCAP’s 2014 report, Osun’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is N1.9 trillion. The state civil service wages of N43.2 billion is therefore 2.3 per cent  of Osun’s  GDP. What this simply implies is that there are other sectors that contribute principally to the sustenance of the economy. This would probably explain why the situation, as sad as it is, has not degenerated to that of social chaos.
In general, the mood in the state currently is largely that of supportive concern as the administration is one that has been given to populist and innovative development, the kind of which the people had hitherto not experienced. The government champions the only surviving school feeding scheme in the country, which benefits 252,000 school children at a yearly cost of just N3.5 billion.The scheme has been hailed by development institutions from far and near as a cost-effective silver bullet to tackling the challenges of education, malnutrition and empowerment that bedevil millions of households in Nigeria and the developing world at large.
In Osun, the scheme has proven to be a means of critical support to hundreds of thousands of families, sustains 3, 007 community caterers, thousands of small holder and commercial farmers.
Osun also pioneered a social welfare programme that engages youths in community service, capacity development in return for a monthly stipend of N10,000 each. The scheme, called OYES engages 20,000 youths in a two-year rolling scheme at a yearly cost of just N3 billion.
Today, OYES has proven to be another cost-effective means of empowering the grassroots economy to such an extent that it’s been adopted by no less than the World Bank as the template for its own National Youth Empowerment Scheme called YESSO. The scheme has directly benefited 40,000 youths and indirectly tens of thousands of households across Osun.
The people, being beneficiaries and witnesses to this unusual people-centered development in the last few years, are therefore in a high state of concern and enthusiasm to see the state overcome it’s current predicament and return to its usual business of delivering to the people.
The Osun salary arrears challenge is a symptom of a larger national problem, which affects governments at all level and was occasioned by multiple factors outside the single control of any one government.    Osun State and its people have been lopsidedly vilified as the face of this challenge in such a way as to appear that the state is the architect of the problem.  It is therefore important to place this problem in a more appropriate context so as to allow for a genuine resolution for Osun, other states and the nation at large.
How we got here
In Osun, three keys factors contributed to the current problem.
•2012: The demand for ‘blanket’  implementation of minimum wage increase.
•July 2013 : The 40 per cent crash in statutory allocation  due to alleged oil theft of 400,000 barrels of crude per day.
•June 2014 : The 50 per cent crash in the global price of crude oil and impact on statutory allocation.
The minimum wage increase of 2012 came with its blessings and challenges. The Federal Government negotiated a uniform minimum wage for the nation without due consideration for the varying earning capacities of the constituent states. Thus, creating a situation where top-earning states like Akwa Ibom, were to pay the same minimum wage as Osun that earns a fraction of Akwa Ibom’s revenue.
The administration in Osun being pro-worker in origin, nonetheless sought a minimalist and literal implementation by increasing wages for the lowest earning cadre of the civil service and augmenting the remaining level  in order to maintain seniority in level and an affordable wage bill to government. The unions refused this arrangement for affordability, rather demanded for a proportional increase across board.
This led to an increase in wages from N1.7 billion per month to N3.6 billion, more than a 100 per cent increase. This arbitrary increase occasioned by the Federal Government’s negotiation of a unitary minimum wage for all states regardless of their earning capacity signaled the beginning of major disturbances in the state’s finances.
In retrospect, perhaps the state could have been harder in enforcing its implementation of minimum wages. This was one factor that was within the control of the state although the consequence of such action could have proven costly.
By July 2013, the Federal Government had declared that the country was losing 400,000 barrel of crude per day to oil bunkering. The immediate effect of this to states was that statutory allocation suffered a 40 per cent reduction, which further destabilised the state’s budget.  It was bad enough that any reduction threatened the funding and delivery plans of any serious government, much worse it was that the 40 per cent reduction in revenue didn’t add up. The country produces around 2.6 million barrels a day. The theft of  400,000 barrels should translate to 15 per cent reduction. Osun, like other states, experienced a 40 per cent  reduction and the Federal Government gave no explanation for this.  This anomaly among other funding concerns led the governor to raise an alarm on the 16th of February 2014 edition of Vanguard Newspaper about the dangers of the situation to the nation.  Please see http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/02/nigeria-war-situation-aregbesola/
In June 2014, the macro economic event of the crash in international price of crude occurred. Prices crashed by as much as 50 per cent  and a similar reduction was transferred to statutory allocation. This led to a further depletion in statutory revenue. In average Osun suffered at least a 56 per cent  reduction in its revenue in this period and this impacted the state’s development and wages obligations.
The oil bunkering issue and the attendant effects on states’ revenue was exclusively a federal matter, while the drastic crash in crude oil prices was a macro-economic disaster. Both factors were totally out of the purview of the state. The response of any state to such issues should have been to downscale activities as much as possible, which Osun did. The government subsequently slowed down efforts on some projects in order to cushion the effects of this challenge. It is pertinent to highlight that regardless of the good intentions of the state, its handling of the blanket minimum wage increase following union pressure, if avoided, could have reduced the effect of the fiscal woes being experienced.
While, it can be argued that this could have further cushioned the effect of the challenge, nonetheless, it also could have proven somewhat costly to manage in social and political terms. It is instructive that at the heart of this unfortunate development lie the critical structural problems in government. It is with this in mind that it must be noted that the nation will have to tackle the challenge of bloated government head on, if we are to decisively deal with this matter now.
The government in Osun, given its progressive origin, did not rely only on the statutory funds to drive its development agenda. The state has been ramping up on Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) from the administration’s inception. Osun’s concerted efforts in this regard, since 2010, has translated to a 200 per cent  increase in IGR, one of the highest increase in its economic zone.
However, this IGR increase was not enough to radically drive economic growth. Osun cannot exclusively rely on its IGR to fund personnel costs for now.
In fact, an increase in IGR can only be as quick as the growth of the economy and Osun for most of its 24 years of existence as a state has suffered weak economic growth, lacking the critical social and physical infrastructure required to become vibrant.
Thus, to radically increase IGR, Osun will need to expand the economy; to expand the economy, Osun needs to build social, physical and business infrastructure.
So, from November 2010, Osun became synonymous with radical, bold and innovative socio-economic infrastructure programmes. Some of these include:
•Agri-business reform – The programme led to the emergence of one of the largest poultry producers in the country in Osun.
•Aggressive development of road infrastructure – Highways, inter and intra-city road networks to aid trade and development of industry.
Education reform
•Development of model school infrastructure – No fewer than 252,000 children are benefitting from the school feeding scheme.
• Opon Imo – The electronic learning (e-learning) tool targeted at 150,000 high school pupils.
• Teacher training – Training and retraining programmes from teachers in public schools.
• School uniform harmonisation – This policy led to the emergence of the largest garment factory in West Africa.
Therefore Osun, in its quest for strategic diversification of the economy, could not undergo a swift weaning from statutory allocation as it lacked the economic base for a quick and proportional ramp up of IGR. This informed the bold efforts by the administration to invest in the needed infrastructure to boost the economy.
Implementing infrastructure development required huge resources. The cost of wages has historically taken a large chunk of government spending in this space, Osun and the nation at large. The previous administrations in the state had consistently shied away from filling the infrastructure gap that the state so badly needed to be economically viable.
The incumbent administration sought to act decisively by devising new means of leveraging regular although marginal revenue to access low-cost and long-term funds called bonds. Thus, the government accessed bonds at the early days of this administration, based on revenue projections, which understandably, did not capture the mishaps from 2012. Unfortunately this meant the state also had obligations to it creditor   which would not have been a problem when the projections were made.
But, for the unexpected and unfortunate national problem of oil theft and the macro economic disaster of 50 per cent  reduction in oil prices, Osun would now be celebrating the actualisation of its well thought-out socio-economic rejuvenation without any problem of meeting its wages and other obligations.
Man proposes and God disposes, Osun is momentarily set back by factors that were largely outside its purview. It is with this mind that Osun needs to be supported to conclude on its development agenda, some of which are widely seen as a model for people-focused development for the nation.
The people of Osun know this and so do the men and women of reason in our nation. Leadership is for time of crisis. Osun’s finest moment is yet to come. By the grace of God, Osun will champion an admirable way out of this, for the benefit of its people and the nation at large.
THE NATION

Acting Chairman of the Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC), Mr. Raymond Omachi, on Sunday, said the mismanagement of the Excess Crude Account (ECA) is responsible for the liquidity problem the country is currently battling with.
The FRC boss who disclosed this during an interaction with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, said, “If the ECA had been properly managed, in accordance with the FRC Act, the country will not have been embroiled in the liquidity crisis being presently experienced.”
The cash crunch has left many states with months of unpaid workers’ salaries while the Federal Government had to resort to borrowing to pay its workers. State governments are currently looking on to the government at the centre for a bailout.
According to Omachi, the ECA was established in 2004 to protect planned budget against shortfalls due to volatile crude oil prices.
He added that the FRC Act stated that savings from the ECA should not be accessed until oil price falls below the predetermined level for a period of three consecutive months.
He said that the sum accessed should be limited to the amount that would bring the revenue of government to the level contained in its budget estimates.
He, however, noted that over the years, the commission had noticed withdrawals that were contrary to this and had raised alarm severally at the way the ECA was being brazenly depleted.
The FRC boss stated, “In essence, the non-compliance with the relevant sections of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007, is the cause of the financial management problem being experienced by the country in the light of the sliding oil price.
“If the account had been intact, the effect of declining oil price will have been accommodated with the ECA buffer to finance the budget.”
The management of the ECA pitched state governors against the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan with the governors accusing the immediate past government of spending from the account without carrying state governments along.
At a meeting held on May 20, 2015, state governors alleged that the last administration had spent $20billion from the ECA.
While reading the resolution of the meeting, former chairman of Nigeria Governors Forum, Rotimi Amaechi, said: “In the light of the fact that funds in the Excess Crude Account were last disbursed in May 2013, there is need for the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to provide explanation for accruals to the account from June 2013 to April 2015, which is estimated at over $20 billion.”
In her swift response to this, Okonjo-Iweala said the issue of explaining accruals to the ECA had no basis as the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) met every month “and the ECA is discussed at every session with all the state commissioners of finance present.”
In a statement issued by her Special Adviser, Mr. Paul Nwabuikwu, the minister added,
“Nothing is hidden. At these meetings, the Honourable Minister of State, who is the Chair of FAAC, announces the balance in the ECA, which is then discussed. So governors who want any information about the ECA should ask for details from their commissioners who should have the records of what was discussed and agreed upon.”
But again during the inauguration of the Nigeria Economic Council (NEC) by President Muhammadu Buhari n Abuja last week Monday, the ECA issue arose and Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State alleged that the former administration spent $2.1billion without the approval of NEC.
However, Okonjo-Iweala strongly refuted that, saying there was no time the government spent unauthorized money from the account.
In a statement issued by Nwabuiku, the former minister said, “How can some governors who fought FG’s efforts to leave robust savings in the ECA and even took the Federal Government to court over the matter turn around to make such unfounded allegations?
“The world knows that it was Okonjo-Iweala who pioneered, during her first stint as Minister of Finance in the Obasanjo administration, the practice of publishing monthly updates of all allocations to different tiers of government in order to empower Nigerians with information and knowledge of government revenues and expenditure. This enabled the Nigerian public to ask questions about the utilization of these resources. Of course many elected and appointed public officials were not happy with this development.”
TRIBUNE

To curb the growing rate of electricity equipment and installations vandalism in Osun State, the state command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has declared its readiness to work with the Licensed Electrical Contractors Association of Nigeria (LECAN), in the state.
The state commandant, Alhaji Tajudeen Ayobami Balogun stated this during the courtesy visit to the NSCDC state headquarters in Osogbo by the members of the LECAN executives in the state.
Quoting from the enabling Act of the Corps passed in 2003 and the subsequent amendment in 2007, which empowered NSCDC to check their activities the commandant charged electricity contractors to shun any act of sharp practices that can damage the reputation of their profession.
According to the commandant, the Act further empowers NSCDC to curb the activities of oil pipelines and electricity transmission cable vandals and make sure that the act of vandalism and economic sabotage are prevented before they are executed.
With the location of the National Control Centre in Osogbo and other major installations around the state, the commandant revealed that the Critical Infrastructure and National Assets Protection Unit (CIPU) of the NSCDC is battle ready to combat the criminals.
In his remarks, chairman of LECAN in Osun State, Elder M.O. Akintayo stated that the purpose of the visit was to familiarise with the NSCDC as stakeholders in the protection of government’s critical infrastructures and assets and to decry the growing rate of electricity cables vandals in the state. Elder Akintayo stated further that LECAN has put in place a monitoring team that will liaise with NSCDC to combat vandalisation of electricity equipment. and installations.
LEADERSHIP