The campaign organisation of All Progressives Congress (APC) Gubernatorial candidate, Abiodun Oyebanji has chided the Social Democratic Party (SDP) over allegation of diversion of funds meant for pensioners used in purchasing vehicles for local government chairmen in the state.
It further advised Engr Segun Oni to sell his campaign programmes to Ekiti people instead of spreading lies and propaganda to curry favour ahead of June 18 governorship election.
Oni had through his campaign spokesman, Idowu Adelusi, alleged that Governor Kayode Fayemi sacrificed the welfare of retired workers by spending money meant for their pensions and gratuities to buy vehicles for local government chairmen and to bribe the officials of the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) with N8million to campaign against Oni in favour of Oyebanji in the June 18 governorship election.
Speaking further, the Deputy Director of Media and Publicity of BAO Campaign Organisation, Wole Olujobi, stated that Fayemi is only fulfilling his administration’s obligations to the elected officials at the local governments by giving them official cars while the allegation of bribing NULGE officials to support Oyebanji is a height of mischief and irresponsibility after it has become clear that Oni will reap the fruits of his callousness to local government workers during his administration between 2007 and 2010.
Olujobi further stated that instead of bribing local government leaders into supporting Oyebanji, the workers were only responding to the harsh conditions under Oni’s past administration, preferring Oyebanji’s continuity agenda to consolidate on the gains the local government workers had enjoyed under Fayemi’s administration.
He said, “The local government chairmen statutorily deserve official cars. Severance payment is a statutory responsibility to the past political office holders. All of them are Ekiti people, some of whom are not even members of APC, and so we wonder why a man who professes to love Ekiti people will be angry that this set of leaders enjoy their right to severance allowance.
“It is laughable that Oni is now agonising that local government workers are rooting for Oyebanji as Fayemi’s successor after Oni had unleashed terror on local government workers between 2007 and 2010 when he declared that local government workers were too many and should be retrenched.
Continuing, “Local government service has improved tremendously under Fayemi and the workers believe that it is only Oyebanji that can be trusted to continue that legacy of development and progress in the local government.
“As part of his promises, Fayemi appointed, for the first time in history, a retired local government worker as the chairman of the Local Government Service Commission, a permanent secretary from local government service while six Executive Secretaries and 40 Heads of Local Government Administration were also appointed.
“Local government workers are naturally responding to these goodies by Fayemi’s administration by opting to support a candidate that can improve their lot and not about bribing workers as alleged by Oni”.
Packaged By Emmanuel Adeniran
