… party caucus asks Oyetola to release seized severance of ex-LG officers
BY TIMOTHY AGBOR, OSOGBO
Members of the ruling All Progressives Congress in Osun State on Monday protested against the nominees of Governor Gboyega Oyetola for the Local Government Areas in the state.
The aggrieved members, from Iwo, Olaoluwa and Obokun LGAs of Osun State, stormed the State House of Assembly and expressed displeasure at the LG caretaker list forwarded to the legislature for approval by the Governor.
The protesters carried various placards with inscriptions like, “Enough is Enough, O to gee”, “APC is nobody’s property,” “2022 is Shaking,” “Iwo are not slaves”, “Obokun people want Justice,” among others, and chanted songs to drive home their demands.
The spokesperson for the politicians from Iwo, Nurani Musbau, in an interview, said they wanted the Assembly to step down the lists of nominees presented to them by Gov Oyetola.
Musbau said that the harmonised list prepared by the party leaders in their various LGs had been compromised and asked the legislators to revisit the harmonised list submitted by the party leaders.
Addressing the protesters, the Speaker, Osun State House of Assembly, Timothy Owoeye, appealed to them to be calm and patient for the House to look into the matter.
Not pleased with the assurances of the Speaker, the protesters marched to the Governor’s Office at Abeere.
However, on getting to the gate that leads to Oyetola’s office, they were prevented from gaining entry to the office.
Some security agents shut the gate and disallowed the protesters. The aggrieved members sat on the floor and insisted that the Governor should address them.
It would be recalled that the OSHA had on Friday announced that it received the LG caretaker list from the Governor and read out names of nominees who would run the affairs of LGs, LCDAs and Area Councils in the state.
But, the state’s caretaker chairman of the APC, Prince Gboyega Famodun, has congratulated the nominees on their emergence and cautioned them to be magnanimous in victory.
Famodun in a press statement, released by his media aide, Kola Olabisi, in Osogbo, enjoined the party members who may not have made the list to identify with the victorious nominees, as it would soon be their turn.
He hinted that the stakeholders of the party should be mindful of the fact that political positions cannot go round at any particular time.
He pleaded with the LGC caretaker nominees to hasten the process of their appointment by acting in line with the directive of the OSHA in that regard.
Meanwhile, a group known as ‘The Osun Progressives, a caucus of the APC, has called on Gov Oyetola to intervene in seizure of the severance pay of some immediate past elected local government officials and direct unconditional payment.
The Chairman of the caucus, Adelowo Adebiyi, said, “We waited till now in the hope that personal contacts with affected state officials will yield result but it looks like there is a deliberate desire to have the affected ex-LG operators punished, as government officials insist there are issues to be resolved.
“As at now, the part payment of 25% severance of those who have close affinity with Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola but were said to be having personal issues to settle in the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs are yet to be paid their dues.
“We draw Governor Oyetola’s attention, that of APC national leadership and all men of all of goodwill to the aberration in withholding and denying the dues of a man who has diligently worked for it.”
