Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja
Ex-aides of the former Governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, have sent a passionate appeal to the incumbent Governor, Dapo Abiodun, to pay their severance gratuity denied them since they left office in 2019.
Representatives of the former Special Assistants, who served between 2015 and 2019, Gbenga Adekanmbi, Musiliu Oladeinde and Olusola Balogun, stated in a statement that all efforts to make Abiodun pay the gratuity have failed.
They lamented that this has caused them financial, mental and physical trauma and that the value of their allowance has depreciated heavily.
The former political appointees appealed to the governor to consider them in the N5 billion palliatives recently released by him to cushion the consequences of the current hardship on the residents, staff and retirees.
Their plight, they said, is made worse, as most of them could not return to their places of work, which they had to leave to serve the state, noting that this has grave consequences on the upkeep of their families and their personal well-being.
They wondered why the state government continues to ignore them, despite the formal appeals made in three letters to the governor as well as those sent to the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, the Secretary to the State Government, the Chief of Staff and the Senior Special Adviser to the Governor.
“We recall the acknowledgment of receipt of our letters and the promise made by the governor to look into our request when he met with our representatives at the Presidential Lodge, Ibara, Abeokuta, on September 1, 2022, ahead of the 2023 elections.
“We know His Excellency as a magnanimous and empathetic leader, who, on assumption of office, not only retained the thousands of workers employed and the Permanent Secretaries promoted in the twilight of the government of his predecessor but also fulfilling his promise to pensioners,” they said.
In one of the letters sent to the governor, dated August 5, 2012, and signed by Soyombo Opeyemi, Olusola Balogun, Lanre Adeagbo and Gbenga Adekanmbi, the former appointees said, “We, the undersigned, representatives of Special Assistants to the governor who served Ogun State Government between the years 2015 and 2019, earnestly appeal to Your Excellency to pay our severance allowance. 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 June 6, 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,” they concluded.
