Oyo State Government on Monday said it has reduced the salaries of political office holders by 50 per cent.

Secretary to the State Government, Olalekan Alli made the disclosure at a news conference held in Ibadan on Monday.

Alli said the decision was taken to augment the dwindling revenue base of the state.

He also said the state pays workers N5.2 billion monthly from the Federal Government monthly allocation.

“The resources of government in the state dwindled as a result of the economic downturn.

“In July, the state’s monthly allocation was N4 billion, N3.8 billion in Aug., N3.5 billion in Sept. and N2.8 billion in Oct.

“Considering the dwindling allocation, the best is for state governments to look inward.

“This is why we are slashing the salaries of all political office holders,’’ he said.

Alli also said the state government has discovered some ghost workers.

“We have discovered 500 people who did not come for the verification exercise to unravel their true identity,’’ he said.

Azeez