Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State has blamed his inability to pay workers salaries on the huge debt inherited from the immediate past administration of Governor Kayode Fayemi. According to Fayose, the N25 billion bonds from the Capital Market and another N31 billion commercial loans, by the Fayemi’s administration are responsible for the poor financial condition of the state and the challenges faced in the payment of workers’ salaries. Fayose, who stated this while reacting to the no-shift-ground stance of the striking workers, said about N1.2 billion is being deducted monthly from the state’s allocation to service the loans which the Kayode Fayemi administration took in its four years in the saddle. Dr. Kayode Fayemi, former governor of Ekiti State and Ayo Fayose The governor said if the N1.2 billion being deducted is added to the state’s monthly allocations, his administration will not owe workers. Speaking through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Idowu Adelusi, in Ado-Ekiti yesterday, Fayose took a swipe at the All Progressives Congress, APC, which he said had been encouraging the labour not to call off the strike action. He said it was quite unfortunate that the Fayemi administration also diverted the N850 million meant for the Ekiti State Universal Basic Education Board and thereby leading to the suspension of the state from the Universal Basic Education Commission programmes since 2012. Fayose said he was surprised that when Fayemi took the loans which now made payment of workers’ salaries difficult, the labour did not kick against the moves. The governor said the strike had been politicised because of his criticism of the bad policies of the Federal Government and his fight against tyranny. APC asks DMO to clarify Ekiti debts profile Perturbed by the claim of the Governor, APC in Ekiti State has pleaded with the Debts Management Office (DMO) in the Federal Ministry of Finance to make another public clarification on the status of the state’s debts to put to rest inconsistent debt figures being presented by Governor Ayodele Fayose to the public to justify non-payment of workers’ salaries and pensions after taking 20 months federal allocations and N9.6bn bailout cash. In a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun, the party said this became imperative as the governor had been giving inconsistent figures on different occasions that had cast doubts on the integrity of the state’s financial application. On Fayose’s claim that the Fayemi administration borrowed another N31 billion commercial loan apart from the N25 billion bond, nothing could be farther from the truth. Olatunbosun challenged him to provide evidence of this loan and what it what used for as records are there in the office of the Account General if he is sure of his facts. The truth of the matter is that Fayose has resorted to blatant lies to cover up his many shady financial transactions and misapplication of state funds, Olatunbosun said.”