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The Osun State Government on Tuesday announced that it was effecting a 50 per cent cut in the salaries of political office holders in the state as part of measures to reduce government spending. The announcement was made after the approval of the payment of December 2014 salaries for workers.
The Peoples Democratic Party in in the state has however described the 50 per cent slash in salaries and allowances as a mere political gimmick, saying the slash amounted to nothing since only three officials were affected.
The PDP spokesperson in the state, Diran Odeyemi, said on Tuesday: “We however condemn the propaganda of the government that it has reduced the salaries of political functionaries by 50 per cent.
“We want to state categorically that only the Deputy Governor, Chief of Staff, and Secretary to the State Government are political functionaries as Governor Aregbesola has refused to appoint commissioners since October 2014,”
He also said it was disappointing that the state government succeeded in paying only one month salary despite owing workers seven months of unpaid salaries.
“It is indeed a shock for Osun workers to receive payment alert of their December salary in July leaving an outstanding seven months unpaid with no fixed date for paying the rest,” Mr. Odeyemi said.
He sympathized with the entire work force and retirees in Osun, appealing to them to be calm and be law abiding.
The state government in a statement released on Tuesday had explained that it was making efforts to ensure that the remaining salaries were paid