A civil society group, the Civil Societies Coalition for the Emancipation of Osun State (CSCEOS), has urged the State Governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, to clear the backlog of the salaries and pensions arrears to the workers and retirees alike in the state, insisting that the state government under his watch still owes the workers and retirees between 10 and 12 months salaries and pensions arrears.

It would be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari recently disclosed that the Federal Government had released the total sum of N760.17 billion in two tranches of the Paris Club Refund Loan to states for the payment of outstanding salaries and pensions, but some Governors are believed to have spent the funds on other things.

The group also alleged that Aregbesola was one of the governors in Nigeria that spent the state funds on another things entirely, which made the state to be swimming in the backlog of workers’ salaries and pensions to the tune of 10 to 12 months.

Reacting to President Buhari’s claim that the two tranches of the Paris Club Refunds loan released by the Federal Government were enough to clear the backlogs of workers’ salaries and pensions in all the states of the federation.

In a statement by the CSCEOS’ Chairman, Comrade Adeniyi, Alimi Sulaiman, he maintained that with the position of the President on Paris Club Refund loan, there should be no excuse for Mr. Aregbesola not to clear the outstanding salaries and pensions arrears of workers and retirees in the State, urging the leadership of the Labour Unions in the State to hold Aregbesola responsible for still owing salaries and pensions arrears.

Comrade Sulaiman who sympathised with the affected workers and retirees in the state over the non-usage of bailout funds and Paris Club Refunds and Budget Support Funds (BSF) released to Aregbesola by Federal Government to clear the backlog of salary and pension arrears, advising the workers and retirees alike to ensure that they collected their outstanding legitimate entitlements before the emergency of new helmsman in the state in 2018.

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