As a way of coping with current economic realities in the country, stakeholders in Ekiti on Tuesday agreed with the state government on measures to cut government spending to keep afloat in the face of dwindling government revenues.
This is as Governor Kayode Fayemi assured that his administration would not sack any worker despite the cash crunch being experienced in the state.
Both the governor and stakeholders, however, agreed on some cost-saving measures including reduction in subventions to higher institutions in the state, cutting or total stoppage of running grants to offices, and discontinuation of the consequential adjustments of the minimum wage for senior category of workers as well as ramping up of tax collection in a bid to shore up internally generated revenue (IGR)
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The stakeholders’ meetings which took place at the Adetiloye Hall, Ado-Ekiti was called by the state government as an avenue to present the state of the state finances to the critical stakeholders, comprising civil servants, traditional rulers, religious leaders, labour and trade union leaders, representatives of the academic community, student leaders, leadership of market women, artisan and transporters among others.
Governor Fayemi set the tone for the day’s discussion when he reeled out the state’s finances including project distributions as well as current financial challenges.
The governor whose presentation also included a comparison with other sister states explained the need to reflect the economic realities and development in the country in order to avert a possible economic crisis. He said if the state must survive the current economic quagmire, there was the need to cut over N680 million spent per month.
