Accord Party in Oyo State and its Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) counterpart on Wednesday in Ibadan, the state capital, disagreed over the performance of the Senator Abiola Ajimobi-led administration in the South-West state.
The Accord Party, in a statement, urged the governor to play down the celebration of his new title of Atunluto of Ibadanland in deference to the plight of teachers in the state.
The statement signed by its Media Director, Mr Dotun Oyelade, said that the governor was celebrating the title at the expense of workers’ welfare.
“The governor has refused to pay the 27.5% Teachers’ Enhanced Salary and the N18,000 minimum wage in the past 18 months, inspite of the huge resources it had collected,” it said.
The party claimed that the state collected N78, 801,000,000 billion between January and December last year.
It also alleged that the administration collected N37, 600,000,000 billion from statutory allocation, N18,997,000,000 billion from Excess Crude Oil revenue and N13,804,000,000 billion from Internally Generated Revenue.
The party expressed worry that the administration was waiting till June 1 for teachers to go on an indefinite strike over their “ legitimate entitlement.’’
The ACN, however, described the quoted figures as a “ sensational bandying of fake state earnings to earn undeserved heroism in the minds of the people.’’
ACN Publicity Secretary, Mr Dauda Kolawole, said in a statement, said that the administration had paid the 27.5 per cent Teachers Enhanced Salary as well as minimum wage of N18,000 to the least paid worker.
The party also said the administration had touched the lives workers in the last two years through training and retraining as well as other welfare programmes.
The ACN further said that the earnings of the state in the last two years was a far cry from the “fake figures” claimed by Accord Party.
It said government had used its financial engineering skills to construct many roads, adding that this remained unprecedented in the history of the state.