Ondo State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN, has directed the office of the Accountant General of the State to prepare one month salary for payment to workers of the state.
The salary is expected to be paid on or before Friday this week.
However, TRACE gathered that the governor directed that salary payment to the workers should start from February 2017, the month that he took office.
The last salary received by the core civil servants in the State was for the month of July 2016. The next payment should have been for August 2016.
Akeredolu was said to have informed the Accountant General to prepare payment voucher for Feb 2017 and not August 2016 as expected by workers.
The governor was said to have maintained that the six months arrears that was inherited by his government would be paid gradually as the finances of the state improve.
It was learnt that the governor would not want to carry the stigma of the six months arrears with him and will consider it as debt left over by his predecessor which will be paid over time.
Labour leaders in the State were said to have met with the governor to reconsider the directive as this could dampen the morale of the workers.
The labour leaders had argued that government is a continuum and that the new governor inherited the assets and liabilities of the past administration.
It is unclear whether the governor would have a change of decision before the payment is effected later this week.
