Oyo has paid salary till February, says govt

The Oyo State government has decried a report that it has not paid its workers since the beginning of this year.


It faulted The Cableng for carrying what it called a faulty survey about states with backlog of salaries.

A statement yesterday by Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, ‘Toye Arulogun, said the state was shocked by reading the report.

It said: “The Oyo State Government has observed with dismay a news report with the headline, ‘Kogi, Abia, Oyo among six states that ‘haven’t paid workers in 2017’ in The Cableng, a news medium which is well respected by the Oyo State government. We consider the medium a reliable and credible source of information; it has earned its pedigree from professional conduct and due diligence in its reporting.

“We are, however, shocked that a medium of such repute published a story that Oyo is one of the states that have not paid salaries this year, based on a survey by a civic tech company called BudgIT.

“The quoted survey is faulty in its findings with a wide error margin, given the facts on the ground in relation to Oyo State. The reality on the ground casts serious doubts on the authenticity of the report. The methodology and approach of such a survey is questionable as the result is not in tandem with facts.

“While it is understandable that the report was sourced from another reputable organisation, BudgIT, we believe The Cableng should have gone a step further to ascertain the veracity of the report before going to press, based on our belief that the ‘gates’ in the journalism profession should have helped in preventing this half-truth report.