Osun Workers Full Salary Captured in 2016 Budget – Assembly

The Osun State House of Assembly has allayed the fear of the state civil servants over the continuation of half salary payment to some section of workers, saying the full payment of their salaries had been captured in the 2016 budget estimate.

Rt. Honourable Najeem Salam, Speaker Osun State House of Assembly

The Speaker, Honourable Najeem Salaam and Chairman, Committee on Finance and Appropriation, Kamil Oyedele, said this at the plenary, on Monday, during the further consideration of the 2016 Appropriation Bill.

Governor Rauf Aregbesola has presented a budget proposal of N150 billion to the Assembly, but due to the poor economic situation, he approached the parliament to readjust the budget downward to N137.9 billion.

Salaam said the capturing of the full salary in the budget for all categories of workers had shown that the government was working hard to ensure that the civil servant were properly paid.

“It is important for the civil servants to work hard; let us all block leakages, so that we can have enough fund to carry out our obligations – including payment of full salaries of workers,” he said.

The statement further noted that Oyedele, while reading the policy trust of the bill, said that the budget was moderate, simple and realistic, as it focuses on things that would boost the resources of the state.

He stressed that the budget was concentrating on ongoing projects, saying that the civil servants should co-operate with the government to make the budget work as expected.

Oyedele was quoted as saying: “This year’s budget is realistic, because of its non-dependence on funds from the federal allocations.

“This year’s budget is promising and development-oriented, as ongoing projects that would boost our revenue are being concentrated upon.

“Also, the full payment of workers salary and pension, as captured in this budget, is being given priority”.

Members including Timothy Owoeye (Ilesa East), Kamardeen Akanbi (Ede North), Rasheed Afolabi (Ifelodun) and Oyintiloye (Ibokun) made a case for attention to revenue generation.

They tasked various committees of the House to strengthen over-sight functions and performance evaluation, with a view to making the budget serve its purpose.

It would be recalled that, in line with the agreement between the Labour Unions due to the dwindling resources accruable to the state, the government has been paying full salaries to officers from Grade Level 1 to 7, while those on Level 8 to 17 have been receiving half salary pending the improvement in the finances of the state.