Gubernatorial candidate of Alliance for Democracy (AD) in the March 9th 2019 election in Oyo State, Engineer Oyedele Hakeem Alao has declared that it would be senseless, suicidal and criminal for Governor Seyi Makinde to pay off sacked Local Government chairmen and Councillors the sum of Seven Billion Naira (₦7b) at the expense of the people of the state.
Alao made this declaration on Friday in Ibadan, the State capital.
Makinde has earlier proposed to pay off local government chairmen and councillors whom he sacked last year all their salary and entitlements.
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It was, however, gathered that if the embattled chairmen and councillors accept the pay off offer, the Governor will be spending the sum of seven Billon Naira (N7b) as salaries, allowances and other entitlements to settle sixty-eight (68) local government chairmen, sixty-eight (68) secretaries, supervisors and Special Assistants.
But Alao while reacting, insisted that it would be a prodigal son’s way if Makinde pays off the sacked chairmen such huge amount of money and at the same time pay the caretaker chairmen he recently appointed. Alao maintained that Makinde’s action would amount to short-changing the people of the State.
Alao added that it will amount to breach of social contract if Makinde who promised to fight corruption and has established an anti-graft commission be coming with a position to pay off the sacked ALGON chairmen for the official duties they did not carry out, particularly when our governor is not going to pay from his private pocket or his company’s account.
He said, “Back to the issue of the sacked ALGON, whether the sacked chairmen would accept the offer of pay-off or not, the present administration under Engineer Seyi Makinde should realize that, at this point in time, it would be senseless, suicidal and criminal to pay off such a humongous amount of money to the chairmen who have not been allowed to serve their tenure considering the fact that the state’s IGR has not really picked up.
“For the Oyo State Government, it came back with a prodigal son’s approach, how can a government promising to fight corruption and has established an anti-graft commission be coming with a position to pay off the sacked ALGON chairmen for the official duties they did not carry out, particularly when our governor is not going to pay from his private pocket or his company’s account?
“These two positions by the two feuding parties show clearly the selfish disposition and anti-people posture of the current political leadership in the state, particularly from the two dominant parties; PDP and APC in the state. If the concluded out-of-court position and package offered by the Oyo State Government is anything to go by, it means that the Engr Seyi Makinde administration would be coughing out, paying off for nothing a huge amount of money to the tune of N7bn to the 33 local government chairmen, factoring in the LCDAs chairmen, all the secretaries, supervisors and/or special assistants, with all their severance allowances.
Alao while speaking on the recently introduced park management system faulted the governor as he said that it is the duty of the local government and not the state government to construct parks.
He insisted that the PMS as constituted across the state is not the solution to rest the likely unrest, violence and chaos associated with the leadership of NURTW in the state.
“The newly introduced Park Management System (PMS) is a good policy but, again, not well-thought-out and delivered. Apart from the fact that park construction, management and operations is a constitutional duty of the local government housed under Fourth Schedule, 1 (f) of the 1999 Constitution, it has been clear that the state government was all out to compensate a faction of the state’s NURTW and this has not been fair enough for a government portraying itself as honest and sincere.
“Any public officer, career officer, elected or appointed, saying that local governments are holding motor parks “in trust for the state government”, just as the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Makinde, Mr Taiwo Adisa and Commissioner for Information, Dr Wasiu Olatunbosun, as maintained in their different radio interviews, was and is nothing but a lie, an encroachment and an attempt to usurp the power of that tier of government.
“PMS as constituted across the state now has never laid to rest and will never lay to rest the likely unrest, violence and chaos associated with the leadership of NURTW in the state.”
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK