A former governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, on Tuesday, traded words with his successor, Governor Dapo Abiodun, urging him to focus his energy on delivering good governance to the people of the state.
The ex-governor said that Abiodun should roll up his sleeves and concentrate on serving the state’s people rather than shying away from his statutory responsibilities or giving excuses.
He said that the governor’s comment, as issued by his aide over the nonpayment of the severance allowances for the special assistants who served under Amosun’s administration between 2015 and 2019, was nothing but a smear campaign against his person and his past administration.
According to a statement by his media office signed by Lanre Akinwale, Amosun was responding to a statement credited to Abiodun’s Special Adviser on Media and Strategy, Mr. Kayode Akinmade.
In a statement on Sunday, the Special Assistants, who served under Amosun between 2015 to 2019 called on President Bola Tinubu to prevail on Abiodun to pay their outstanding severance gratuity
They claimed that despite writing several letters pleading for the payment of their entitlements since 2019, Abiodun has not responded to their request.
Akinmade, while reacting to the outburst of these former aides in a statement on Monday, told the former Special Assistants that blaming Abiodun for their woes was a sheer act of blackmail and mischief.
He explained that Amosun, not the incumbent governor, was responsible for the nonpayment of their severance allowances.
Akinmade said Amosun, against the extant law and protocol of civil administration, paid all his political appointees before leaving office and left the special assistants out of the arrangement.
The media aide disclosed that Abiodun could not pay the former Special Assistants a severance allowance because their former boss had decided on those he considered entitled to it.
Therefore, he advised the affected former political appointees to first blame their former boss for the act of callousness and insensitivity, after which they can appeal to Governor Dapo Abiodun for possible redress on compassionate grounds.
However, in his reaction on Tuesday, Amosun said during his administration, he paid the severance benefit of political appointees who served during the administration of his predecessor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, without asking the beneficiaries to resort to begging, appeasing, worshipping and bootlicking him.
He said he paid it voluntarily, fully aware that government is a continuum. He considered it part of his responsibility to the affected people for the services rendered to the state.
The statement said “It is beyond logical reasoning and common sense that a government that had spent more than five (5) years in office, will still be shying away from its statutory responsibilities to the people of Ogun State.
“It is high time the present administration in Ogun State cured itself of the pull him (Amosun) down syndrome it suffers from. Who God has lifted up, no amount of politicking and deliberate attacks can bring down.
“Amosun has served the people of Ogun State selflessly, passionately and committedly. His legacies are still noticeable across the nooks and crannies of the state, spanning different sectors.”
The former governor described the present administration’s directive to blame him despite having the handover note in the last five years as unthinkable.
“It is sad and unthinkable that the present administration will direct the affected appointees to Amosun after detailed information about his (Amosun’s) government was presented in the form of handover notes to the present administration five years ago.
“It is obvious that the present administration deliberately refused to pay the severance of the past appointees just because they served with Amosun. Isn’t this a vendetta?
“Time is ticking away, we will only advise the present administration to stop the politicking, blame game, and pull him down syndrome. Rather, it should concentrate on delivering good governance,” the statement concluded.
