Citizens of every States in Nigeria have always wanted theirs ruling governors to disclose how much they earn as the chief captain of the State.
Many other governors even before anything try to reveal their income to their cabinet members as well as the public.
It’s no new situation that some governors would never want their earnings known to the public unless by court order.
The recent gesture by the Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde proved that State leaders keoo to their campaign promises. Makinde disclosed his salary as the Governor of Oyo State while addressing the newly sworn-in Commissioners in the state.
The Governor who expressed his readiness to tackle poor remuneration in the state’s civil service, said his salary as Governor of the state is ₦650,000. Gov Seyi also revealed how he thought his salary was going to be like N3 or N4 million monthly when he announced that he was giving it all to the Pension Board during his inauguration.
He however admitted that anti-corruption initiatives might be hindered by poor remuneration packages as he charged the commissioners to work towards his vision and manifesto of accelerated development of Oyo State.
He was quoted as saying, “We do have challenges and I can give you an example of the kind of issues that we are faced with.”
“When I was on the podium being sworn-in, I announced that I was donating my salary to the pension board. I actually thought my salary was going to be like ₦3 or ₦4 million monthly but when I came in here, I discovered that my salary is only six hundred and fifty naira, ₦650,000 monthly, which is less than two thousand dollars, $2,000.”
“And then, I have a budget of over five hundred million dollars. How can somebody earning $24,000 a year preside over a five hundred million dollar budget? The temptation is just too high.”
“When I was growing up, anytime I saw permanent secretaries and top civil servants, all around with their entourage, jeeps, Land cruisers, I thought they were making it big because I was driving Peugeot or Toyota Camry. But when I came in here, the salary of Permanent Secretaries is under N500,000 per month; in such an environment where you have contractors coming with big temptations.”
“The expectation is just too great and high. But the good news is, we will find a solution to this. It’s going to business unusual in Oyo State”, he concluded.
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