Ex-aides of the former Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun have called on President Bola Tinubu to persuade the incumbent governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun to pay their severance gratuity denied them since 2019 when the Amosun administration exited office.
They lamented that, in spite of the humongous amount accruing to Ogun State under the Tinubu-led administration and the charge of the President for the state governors to cushion the economic hardship through payments of outstanding debts to their citizens, Abiodun had refused to fulfil his pledge to offset the severance allowance.
According to a statement in Abeokuta, the state capital, representatives of the former Special Assistants who served between 2015 and 2019 – Fakorede Adesanya, Okoya Babatunde and Musiliu Oladeinde – said that the incumbent governor met them ahead of the 2023 elections and promised to pay the severance allowance.
The group further said: “This is an acknowledgment that we are entitled to and deserve the allowance.
“The governor has denied us the legitimate entitlement for five years. This has caused us psychological trauma. In the course of time, the value of the gratuity has depreciated considerably. Many of our colleagues who resigned from their jobs to serve Ogun State could not return to their jobs. Many of them and their families are in financial straits, hence our appeal for President Tinubu’s intervention”.
In one of the several letters sent to the governor, dated 5 August 2021, the former government appointees lauded the achievements of the Abiodun-led administration in the state, including the retention of the 2,000 workers employed in the twilight of the last administration, rather than laying them off.
The statement added: “Many of us resigned our jobs in order to serve our state. As the current helmsman, you would have taken cognisance of our plight during the four years of our faithful and selfless service. As we noted in our earlier letter on the subject matter, dated 6 June 2019, we humbly appeal to Your Excellency to kindly offset the severance in order to encourage sacrificial service to the good people of Ogun State by public office holders”.
