Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi
Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi tells OLUFEMI ATOYEBI
plans by his administration to address the paucity of fund
confronting the state, why he has yet to name his cabinet and
other matters
Why did the state government decide to cancel the payment of
the West African Senior School Certificate Examination fee and
introduce a levy in secondary schools?
When we came in, the state government studied all the
aspects of education and we asked ourselves questions on
what could be responsible for the abysmal performance of
our candidates in the WASSCE each year. We found out that
among other things, many of the parents did not bother to
look after their children. We discussed with the parents and
realised that because they (the parents) were not in any way
involved in secondary education of their children; they did
not care about what happened to their children’s education.
They did not care if the children did their assignments or
knew what they were taught in schools. They have
abandoned their responsibility towards their children. We set
up a committee to discuss with the Parents-Teachers
Association, community leaders, individual parents and
other stakeholders to know their views. Interestingly, many
of the parents felt that if they were also contributing by
paying something (some amount of money), they would be
more attentive to the education of their children.
The second reason is the fact that with the paucity of fund
in the state, we have to face the reality that we cannot
continue to sponsor children without involving their parents
in a way. This is why we introduced the development levy.
However, that levy of N3000 per session is not all that is
required to train a child in one year. It’s just for a period of
time, as soon as things improve for the state financially, we
will stop it. It is an emergency situation that we must
address immediately. The decision to introduce the levy was
a unanimous one. And it was based on the suggestions of
stakeholders, including the PTAs.
Did you envisage a political backlash as a result of the
decision?
We envisaged a political backlash on the decision; but we
cannot do what we cannot afford. We can handle the
opposition. When you are not in government, you don’t see
what is happening inside. Oyo State gets around N3bn from
the Federal Allocation while we have a wagebill of more than
N5bn. Our Internally Generated Revenue is N1bn; therefore,
we will continue to owe every month if we don’t adjust our
spending. If the opposition criticises us over this, we will
handle it by showing the facts and figures. Like I said, this is
an emergency situation that is temporary.
How do you plan to increase the state’s Internally Generated
Revenue?
We are restructuring our Board of Internal Revenue Service.
We have just been given the approval by the state House of
Assembly to restructure the board. We want to decouple the
IRS from the regular civil service. It will be a separate unit
that will be responsible. It will have its board and the staff
salary structure will be a little bit higher than that of the
average civil servants, although it will be performance-
based. There are many leakages which we want to block.
From September 2015, we are changing the IRS structure
so as to increase the IGR. Our greatest asset in the state is
land. We want to take control and have a database for our
resources. We don’t even know how many houses we have
in Oyo State or the number of plots of land we have. We
need a database for this to be made possible. Also, people
are not performing their social responsibilities in the state.
But rather than taxing the poor, we will look for opportunities
to extend our taxes. There are so many companies that are
not paying taxes. We have the opportunity to increase our
IGR and I believe that with the restructuring, our IGR will
double in six months. My ambition is that in the next five
years, Oyo State should earn at least N5bn in IGR. I am
confident of this.
What is the position of payment of workers’ salaries in the
state and is the bailout from the Federal Government enough
to pay the backlog?
Currently, we owe three months; May, June and July.
Workers from levels 1 to 12 have received April salary and
we are currently paying the rest. There is no bailout yet.
The Federal Government gave us around N2bn from the
Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas fund. The Central Bank of
Nigeria is now trying to take over states’ debts to banks and
bonds at 14 per cent instead of 24 per cent that we are
paying.
This cocktail of support will lessen the burden. But unless
we add income from IGR, we will continue to be in debt. The
allocation we get now is lower than the basic requirement
needed to pay workers. The alternative is to either reduce
the workforce or increase the state’s income.
Are you planning to reduce the size of the workforce with the
ongoing workers’ verification exercise?
No, we are not. We believe that the exercise will expose
ghost workers. It will also give us the opportunity to train
our workers and to re-assign them. Now that we are talking
of agricultural development, we can send people to work in
areas where agriculture can be practised. The intention of
the screening is not to reduce workers because government
must play its role as a provider of employment. But we
must ensure that we have the right people working for us.
Some people are working without certificates; we have
asked them to provide their certificates. In some cases,
some workers need to update their knowledge. We want to
help them; we want to bridge the skill gap and not to
retrench workers.
Workers of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology said the
owner states, Oyo and Osun, have abandoned them in terms of
funding. Is this true?
Oyo State has never abandoned LAUTECH, but, every
institution should begin to be self-sufficient. We are giving
them subvention. The two states are trying to look at how
the institution must be properly funded. However, the school
must also look for how to be self-sufficient. I have held
meetings with many of the institutions in Oyo State. The fact
that we owe salaries does not mean that we have
abandoned the school.
How will you rate the early days of President Muhammadu
Buhari in office?
Buhari has done well since he came in as the President.
Slow and steady wins the race. Everybody will like to rush
things but Buhari met enormous problems on the ground.
Nigeria was almost bankrupt. A lot of money has been
stolen. I commend Buhari for what he has done so far. That
is the kind of a leader we need now. Behind the success of
every nation economically, you will discover that there is
always a leader that changes the economy. This was the
case in Malaysia. Malaysia gained independence in 1965. It
even came to Nigeria to take palm seeds but now, it is the
highest producer of oil palm. Dubai was not what it is now
when I first visited in 1991. Today, it boasts of the highest
concentration of skyscrapers. We need a strong, committed
and courageous leadership and Buhari has these qualities.
Are you following in Buhari’s foot step by not naming your
cabinet yet?
The civil servants are the ones doing the work. The cabinet
members are just political heads. Most of what the
ministers direct are done by civil servants. What is the noise
about cabinet?
How soon are you going to appoint aides and commissioners?
I will name them when I am ready.
What is delaying their appointment?
In the past, when the government said it could not pay
salaries, workers said that politicians had taken all the
money. Now, we don’t have politicians in office, I want the
workers to see that they are the ones taking the money.
Today, we still pay over N5bn, where are the politicians?
The truth is, politicians don’t take 20 per cent of what the
civil servants earn in salaries and pensions.
Why did you relocate from the Government House to your
private residence before the general elections?
I feel more comfortable in my house. The Government
House is old and dilapidated. I found out it would cost a lot
of money to repair it. We did not have money to fix it.
Besides, being a governor is temporary; I can only spend
eight years. I don’t want to get used to the place; I am used
to my own house. But now, we have begun repairing the
Government House and before the end of the year, I will
move into the place.
It is the belief in some circles that governors who stayed there
during elections did not win a second term and that you
actually left to avert defeat. How true is this?
The magic to win the second term is performance, courage,
sincerity and above all, the grace of God. Someone had to
break its second term jinx and God decided it would be me.
We have introduced merit into governance. The era of ‘ amala
politics’ had to go. Oyo State is a pacesetter state. We told
people not to trade on the streets and they said we had
sinned against the people. My job is to make Oyo State
develop, not to please some groups of people. In the past,
the IGR was shared by politicians but we can account for
what we have spent.
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