THE Ekiti State Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) has advised Governor Ayo Fayose to spend the June allocation of about N9 billion to address the salary payment that has dogged the state in the last seven months.

In a statement yesterday by its Chairman, Tunji Ogunlola, and spokesman, Ayo Adelabu, at the end of its monthly meeting in Ado-Ekiti, the CNPP urged Fayose to copy other states by paying at least three months to workers and pensioners, who had been abandoned since this year.

Reminding Fayose that Ekiti as a civil service state depends on workers’ salaries to run its economy, the conference urged the governor to suspend money-guzzling capital projects for now to pay workers, to bring back life to the economy and mitigate hunger among the populace.

The conference praised President Muhammadu Buhari for granting another budget support package to the state to address workers’ salaries.

“With the last Budget Support Fund Buhari granted the state and the bumper June allocation to the state, of about N9 billion, we urge Governor Fayose to put the money to right use in a transparent manner.

“In a state that depends on workers’ salary to run its economy, we take exception to the governor’s plan to pay just one salary over excuses of spending on capital projects.

“Governor Fayose should be seen as an honourable man that can be trusted with his word to make stomach infrastructure the pivot of his development programme during campaigns, and so any change of heart now after owing workers seven months is an unacceptable negation of the picture that the governor painted of himself during campaigns.”

Insisting that the governor had no excuse to owe workers after collecting allocations from the beginning of the year, particularly with revelation that May allocation was yet to be spent, the conference urged the governor to be transparent in his dealings with Ekiti people.