- It’s not true, we owe nobody – Govt
Tongues have continued to wag in many quarters in Ogun State about the alleged diversion of the October salary of the workers in the state by Governor Ibikunle Amosun to bankroll the recent election of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, as the governor of Ondo State.
Our correspondent gathered from sources within the organised labour and government circles in the state, who pleaded anonymity, that Governor Amosun allegedly diverted the funds meant for the payment of workers’ salary in the state for the month of October to finance Akeredolu’s election held last month.
The sources alleged that Governor Amosun took it upon himself to be part of the major sponsors of Akeredolu’s election in Ondo due to the decision by some powerful party chieftains to withdraw their support for the APC candidate. One of the sources at the state’s Ministry of Finance, however, alleged that the diversion of the salary had been responsible for the inability of the government to pay the October and November salaries of some civil servants and teachers in the state.
“For whatever political reason, our governor and his other colleagues were so much concerned about the Ondo election that they committed states’ funds into it to ensure that Akeredolu won. For him and the others, it was a do-or-die affair,” the source alleged. But in a swift reaction, the state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Chief Dayo Adeneye, denied the allegation against the governor. Adeneye said in a telephone chat with our correspondent that Governor Amosun never diverted the state workers’ salaries into funding political activities in Ondo State.
He said, “It’s a rumour. Governor Amosun is an honourable man. He never indulged in such act. We are not owing the state civil servants. They have been paid October and November salaries. What they are waiting for now is the December salary. What people are peddling around is just a mere rumour and we should not join them as educated citizens of this country. We should go for facts.”
