Lagos — Osun State Government spends about 65 per cent of its monthly federal allocation on the emoluments of its workforce, Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola said weekend.

Oyinlola, who spoke in Osogbo at an "exit meeting" with members of a peer review team from the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) secretariat, said the state got an average monthly allocation of N2 billion from the Federation Account and spent about N1.3 billion on payment of salaries.

The governor explained that Osun State was number 33 on the federal allocation table, saying the state is constrained to take overdrafts almost every month to meet its obligations. He lamented the situation in the country where citizens' existence is almost entirely dependent on government subvention. "In many other countries, government is the last port of call, but in Nigeria, government is the first port of call," Oyinlola said.

Responding to questions on the feud between his state and Oyo State over their joint institution, Ladoke Akintola University, Ogbomoso, Oyinlola said the National Universities Commission (NUC) had met with the two states on Thursday and secured their agreement on a proposal for settlement of the disagreement. He frowned on what he called Oyo State Government's preference for separation, saying the university is a monument whose present ownership pattern is rooted in history and ought not to be balkanised.

"The salvo for disengagement was fired by Oyo State Government. The institution has been there, before Akala and Oyinlola, and it should continue. If there is to be disengagement, it must be mutually agreed.

But Osun State must get its due," the governor said. "But," he said, "ab initio, we do not subscribe to disengagement because it is an inheritance and we do not see why we should not continue it."

It would be recalled that Oyo State Governor, Adebayo Alao-Akala, made some changes in the management of LAUTECH, drawing sharp resentment from Oyinlola, who has alleged that the Oyo government has not right to take unilateral decisions on the running of the institution jointly owned by Oyo and Osun States.