The All Progressives Congress has
advised the people of Osun State to brace up for austerity measures as
the only way out of the economic crisis facing the state.
The Director of Publicity, Research and
Strategy of the APC in Osun State, Mr. Kunle Oyatomi, gave this advice
in a statement made available to our correspondent in Osogbo on
Saturday, while congratulating the labour unions and the state
government for finally resolving the salary impasse.
The APC attributed the economic crisis
in the country to the alleged 16-year misrule of the Peoples Democratic
Party-led Federal Government.
He
said “This will take a lot of sacrifice and belt tightening to fix.
Every citizen must be prepared to experience one form of austerity or
the other in the meantime if we are to expeditiously overcome the damage
done by the PDP to the nation’s economy. Something has to give way for
better things to happen.
“It is not the government that will bear
the brunt alone, the people should be prepared to share in making
sacrifices, so that we can build a future for our children.”
The ruling party in the state blamed the
PDP for the inability of the state to pay workers for many months,
saying the opposition party orchestrated the attacks against the
government to discredit it.
He said further, “Of the number of
states in the country where this same crisis persisted, it was only in
Osun that a satanic twist was orchestrated by the PDP to magnify the sad
event. This is because desperate politicians murderously seeking power
will stop at nothing to exploit people’s misfortune for their selfish
political ambition.”
But the opposition party has said they
would not stop criticising the alleged maladministration of Governor
Rauf Aregbesola’s administration.
The Director of Media, Publicity and
Strategy of the PDP in Osun State, Mr. Diran Odeyemi, when contacted by
our correspondent, said the criticisms against Aregbesola were more
severe than in other states because the governor was the only one
involved in reckless spending with impunity.
The PDP said the ruling party’s advice
was a confirmation that Aregbesola was planning to retrench workers and
to impose heavy taxes on the people.
He said, “Rather than prove us wrong,
the APC has just corroborated our position that it has lost focus and
cannot bring smiles to the faces of the people but hardship.
“It is sad that a government that
promised workers good welfare packages during campaign would withhold
their salaries for nine months and when given bailout by the FG, would
fix it in a bank and embark on series of tactics to delay payment.
“We are aware of what hardship the party
is promising the people of the state and they are heavy taxation,
retrenchment, introduction of school fees and further delay in salary
payment.’’
I want to say this, Even though the allocation has been slashed, 80% of the Osun State Economic crises is caused by the Mis-management of funds, e.g embalking on unneccessay project and the likes• Well, I will advise the mr governor to put on the garment of change and stop all this imbropolisal•
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