In the 200 days that he has been in office, this amount was spent on salary and pension payments to government workers as well as gratuity for retiring employees.
Oyebanji added since taking over government from October, 2022, to May, 2023 The sum of N6.2 billion in subsidies has been paid to the state's tertiary institutions, which will help strengthen them and make them more competitive domestically and internationally.
Governor Oyebanji made these remarks in Ido-Ekiti, over the weekend at a stakeholders' engagement to mark his 200 days as governor.
The engagement, which has become a ritual, took place in the Ado Ekiti Senatorial District on January 11th. Similar stakeholder engagements had occurred earlier that month at the state level and also for all other senatorial districts across ekiti State.
At the occasion attended by critical stakeholders like traditional rulers, traders, labour leaders, transporters, academia, politicians, community leaders, representatives of Parents Teachers Associations, among others, Oyebanji asserted that his government has neither disappointed nor dashed the hope of Ekiti populace in the last 200 days.
The chief executive officer of the state, said that the stakeholders engagement—designed as a “state -of -the-state address” was a fulfilment of his covenant with citizens to render account of stewardships every 100 days in office across three senatorial districts
Oyebanji explained that aside the payment of salaries, pensions and deductions regularly, another sum of $80 million from the African Development Bank (AfDB) would be injected into the local economy to create more jobs for the youths through the Ekiti Knowledge Zone that has just been granted Free Trade status by the Federal Government.
The Governor said that agriculture, tourism, digital technology, entertainment and sports development were crucial to his state's economic growth.
Oyebanji explained that the Independent Power Project started by Kayode Fayemi's administration would be launched in July to provide government offices with uninterrupted power alongside institutions and streetlights in Ado Ekiti describing the amount being spent on diesel monthly as “unsustainable.”
He stated that the government had approved a sum of N700 million to pay gratuity for state workers who have retired, and N200 million for local government retirees. He also revealed that grant worth N200million has been distributed to 3,500 beneficiaries by May ending."
