The Special Assistants that served under former Governor Ibikunle Amosun administration have urged Governor Dapo Abiodun to offset their severance gratuities, which have not been paid since the erstwhile governor left office.
The past political office holders made the plea in a letter signed by four former aides. The aides that signed the letter and addressed to Abiodun include Soyombo Opeyemi, Olusola Balogun, Gbenga Adekanmbi and Lanre Adeagbo.
The former aides, who claimed to have met with Abiodun on September 1, 2022, said he (governor) promised to offset their severance gratuity.
In the letter obtained by The Guardian, the public servants said: “We wish to place on record our appreciation of your giant strides since May 29, 2019. In particular, we note the construction of the all-important Abeokuta-Sagamu Interchange Road, among other massive construction projects going on across the state. No one can ignore the fact that you not only retained the 2,000 workers employed by the previous administration but also went ahead to pay them nine-month salaries, which pleasantly surpassed expectations of the citizens of the state. This rare gesture confirms your human kindness.
“We 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 pleaded with Your Excellency to kindly offset the severance to encourage sacrificial service to the people of Ogun State by public office holders.”
Meanwhile, a former Special Assistant, who spoke with journalists in Ilaro and craved anonymity, said the political office holders under Amosun passed through untold financial hardship. The former governor, he said, “serially denied them their legitimate entitlements.”
