by Dolapo Adelana
Ekiti governor Ayodele Fayose Wednesday visited the headquarters of the Ministry for Finance, The Punch reports.
The governor had on Tuesday accused the Federal Government of withholding the N1.1bn budget support fund from the state for the month of January.
Fayose, demanded the release of the funds, as he requested to see the Minister for Finance, who at the time of his arrival was attending the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting.
He said, “I believe I should do a follow up today (Wednesday) to meet with the minister of finance for an update, but she actually called me on Tuesday that she just got back but will look into it today (Wednesday) and have it resolved as soon as possible.
“You will however appreciate that Ekiti civil servants are restive, having spent Christmas and there is no money in January, obviously there will be challenges.
“By the time I got here, the minister has already gone for the Federal Executive Council meeting, but I met the Special Adviser, who assured me that the matter will be resolved when the minister is back.
“What we are talking about is a part of the monthly allocation and the budget support which is about N1.1bn that have not been paid.
“I believe this should be done immediately and I want to believe also that it was a mix-up and not political. But if it is political, they will have a lot of questions to answer (about) why it should be so.
“If they want to fight Fayose, they should fight Fayose, not the civil servants of Ekiti, but I appreciate her promise to resolve the matter.”
He added, “It is only Ekiti that is involved and this is the second time, that explains why I was suspicious and have to act fast.
“I got a text from the Central Bank of Nigeria that the money has been paid and later I learnt that there is a withdrawal of that instruction that Ekiti was not included in the list out of the entire Federation.
“So, naturally I have to be and when it happened that it was just Ekiti State alone, I have to be suspicious. The minister has given me her word, at her level as a minister, that is good enough.
“If the promise of the minister to resolve this issue as quickly as possible is not adhere to, I will have to bring it back to the public domain.
“We are all in the court of the public opinion where the public is able to judge whether justice is served at all times. Governance is beyond all of us but I want to believe that they will do it.”
Dolapo is a writer and journalist who works with YNaija. He has interests in Christianity, politics and sports.
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