Forum of Special Assistants who served under former Governor Ibikunle Amosun in Ogun State has been told to blame its principal and not Governor Dapo Abiodun for the unpaid severance allowances
Members of the forum in a statement are seeking the intervention of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to prevail on Governor Abiodun to settle their severance allowances
But Special Adviser to Governor Dapo Abiodun on Media and Strategy, Hon. Kayode Akinmade reacting to the publication on Monday in a statement where the forum members blamed the governor for the non-payment of their severance allowances, accused them
of deliberately playing to the gallery over unpaid severance allowances
He said blaming Governor Abiodun on such matter was a sheer act of blackmail and mischief, adding that Amosun, and not the incumbent governor, was responsible for the non-payment of the severance allowances of the former Special Assistants.
Akinmade said Amosun, against the extant law and protocol of civil administration, paid all his political appointees before leaving office and left his special assistants out of the arrangement.
He added that Governor Abiodun could not pay the former Special Assistants any severance allowance when their former boss had decided on those he considered entitled to the allowance.
He, therefore, advised the affected former political appointees to first put the blame of the act of callousness and insensitivity on their former boss after which they can appeal to Governor Abiodun for possible redress on compassionate grounds.
The statement reads: “It has been proven severally without any contradiction by stakeholders and political watchers alike in Ogun State, that the greatest distinction between former Governor Ibikunle Amosun and the incumbent, Prince Dapo Abiodun, is simply penchant for vendetta by Amosun, while Abiodun is compassionate without animosity.
"it is therefore unbelievable that some former political appointees, under the auspices of former Special Assistants during Ibikunle Amosun's administration, could accuse Governor Abiodun of non-payment of their severance allowances.
"It is obvious that these individuals are either playing to the gallery or being carelessly mischievous, knowing full well that Dapo Abiodun, by his nature, orientation and background, would never abuse power, irrespective of who or what is involved, a virtue he has demonstrated many times to the astonishment of many.
"The fact of the matter is that Ibikunle Amosun, at the point of his exit as the Governor of the State and upon recommendation by the then Secretary to the State Government, paid severance allowances to all his Commissioners, Special Advisers and Senior Special Assistants, against protocol and extant law, and deliberately left his Special Assistants out of this arrangement.
"As it stands, the best this forum of Special Assistants can do is to call out their former boss for this horrible act of callous exclusion, and passionately appeal to Governor Dapo Abiodun for consideration on compassionate ground to graciously right the wrong of the ugly past."
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