OSUN State governor Rauf Aregbesola has been told to sell his official helicopter in order to raise funds to clear the mounting backlog of salary arrears that he owes civil servants that risks creating tension in the state. 

At the moment, about 22 Nigerian states owe their civil servants salary arrears, with Osun State owing its workers for the last seven months. Last month, the Osun State chapters of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) issued Governor Aregbesola with a 14-day ultimatum to pay up or face a general strike. 

For now, trade union leaders are yet to call out there members and with the prospect of all-out industrial action, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has told Governor Aregbesola to avoid the crisis by acting. It has urged the governor to sell the helicopter purchased for security surveillance and use the money from the sale to clear at least some of the arrears. 

Diran Odeyemi, the director of media and strategy of the Osun State PDP chapter, said: “The PDP is urging the government to sell the helicopter Governor Aregbesola said was procured for the state and he should stop frivolous trips to Cuba. What this administration told us was that the helicopter was to be used for surveillance but we have since discovered that the machine is only serving the travelling needs of Aregbesola and his family and remains one draining pipe that must be blocked. 

“The governor and his aides should also forthwith stop travelling in chartered aircraft around the world. If President Muhammadu Buhari could be travelling on British Airways, even when aircrafts in the presidential fleet are available, there is need for Governor Aregbesola to borrow a leaf." 

Also, the PDP accused the governor of wasting the state’s resources on politics and arming of a group of youth he called State Boys to unleash terror across the state. Condemning the waste, the PDP urged the newly elected members of the Osun State House of Assembly not to allow themselves be rubber stamps of Governor Aregbesola.

Mr Odeyemi added: “The people of the state now place their hope on the lawmakers to check the excesses of the governor’ in the interest of the masses. It is also fresh in our minds, the huge amount Ogbeni Aregbesola expended on the last Ekiti governorship poll, Lagos governorship poll and the presidential project of the All Progressives Congress. 

“All these actions and many other wasteful spending led us to where we are now, which if they could be reversed, could bring financial reserves for the state. However, if Ogbeni Aregbesola will not treat this advice with disdain, and henceforth begin to act as governor of all, we believe at least, he will be able to pay few months of the backlog of salaries owed workers and retirees.” 

Over the last year, many of Nigeria's states have been unable to pay civil servants as dwindling oil revenue has meant less federal allocation. As most states are not self-sustaining and dependent on federal government handouts, this has led to their costs soaring out of control, leading to the salary arrears.