Our attention has been drawn to a report titled, “Any Govt. owing salaries shouldn’t exist- Amosun,” published on page 10 of the Vanguard Newspaper on Friday, July 29, 2016.

The erroneous report, which was curiously repeated on Friday, July 29, was first published by the same newspaper on Thursday, July 28 with the title, “Any Govt. owing salaries not worth existing- Amosun.”

While we are still at a loss as to why a reputable national daily would repeat the same report for two days consecutively, we are even more surprised considering the fact that the re-hashed report was not only false, but clearly a figment of the imagination of the writer.

For record purposes, we will like to state the true picture of what transpired as follows:

1. That on Wednesday, July 27, 2016, the Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, attended the opening session of the 3rd Quadrennial Delegates Conference of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, which was held in Abeokuta, the state capital.

2. That the governor shortly before declaring the conference open took time to address some of the issues that the workers had slated for discussion in the course of the conference.

3. Expectedly, one of the main issues was the current financial challenges facing the nation and the inability of some states of the federation to pay salaries as and when due.

4. The Ogun State governor while addressing this issue, explained that whereas the Ogun State government was not owing salaries, in most states of the federation, governors (including himself) are having sleepless nights trying to ensure that workers are paid their wages as and when due

5. He used the situation in Ogun State as an example, stating that the revenue accruing to the state from the Federation Account in some months is not up to N1bn, whereas the state has a wage bill of over N9bn to pay on monthly basis.

6. The governor further stated that in the face of this reality, governors still have to ensure that social amenities like security, infrastructure and other social services are maintained.

7. Given this scenario, Governor Amosun explained that he and most of his brother governors are constantly under pressure to meet the needs of the workforce in their states knowing full well that “a labourer is worthy of his wages.”

8. The Ogun State governor said, “I am not making a case for governors but we are Nigerians too.” He added that governors are not happy when they are unable to pay salaries and they are all trying their best to ensure that workers are happy but “we are no magicians.”

9. Governor Amosun said he and his colleagues are not oblivious of the need to meet the wage bills. He said, “Any business that cannot pay its workforce is not a business, including a state. A state that can’t pay salaries, there is a problem. We know it, I know it and I know my colleagues know it too.”

10. The governor further explained that the realization of this fact gives him and other governors sleepless nights as they work day and night to meet the needs of their people

11. The governor, therefore, solicited the support and understanding of workers at this critical time in the history of Nigeria saying that, “you are our landlords. If we are going to succeed, it is with your cooperation and support.”

12. He appreciated the workforce in Ogun State for their cooperation and called for their continued support, which he said was responsible for the state’s ability to pay salaries as and when due.

From the foregoing, it is clear that at no point did the governor say “states that are unable to pay salaries are not worth existing,” as erroneously claimed by Daud Olatunji, the Vanguard Correspondent in Abeokuta who incidentally has been in the habit of twisting the governor’s comments and reporting them out of context.

For the avoidance of doubt, this is not the first instance where the reporter in question would concoct reports totally at variance with the reality of what the governor might have said.

For instance, whereas on July 28, the Vanguard reporter falsely claimed that the governor said, “States that are unable to pay salaries are not worth existing,” other newspapers that covered the same event did not have a similar report. The Sun Newspaper, for instance, correctly reported the governor as having said that “Governors Are not Magicians.”

In another instance on July 20, 2016, the same Vanguard Reporter wrote a report with the headline “Salary Default: Govs Fail to Think outside the box- Amosun.” Whereas there is no direct quote in the body of the report to support that misleading headline, the Guardian newspaper of the same day, correctly reported the governor with a report titled, “Govs have not been mismanaging funds, Amosun insists.”

Similarly, on May 24, 2016, the Vanguard newspaper was once again the only newspaper that erroneously reported under the headline, “Poor Economy: Govs should think out of the box – Amosun.” Reporting the same event, on the same day, the Nigerian Tribune’s headline read, “Ogun Revenue rises by 98% – Amosun;” the Guardian reported, “Ogun Surpassed revenue target despite challenges, says Amosun;” while the Nation newspaper reported with the headline, “Amosun: diversification boosts Ogun IGR by 97 per cent.”

This is a disturbing trend. We therefore hope that you would use your good offices to ensure that professional standards and integrity, for which the Vanguard newspapers, has come to be known over the years, are sustained.

Signed

Adejuwon Soyinka

Senior Special Assistant (Media)

Ogun State Governor