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By Akinwande Soji-Ojo
The immediate past Councillors’ Forum in Oyo State has criticised the Forum of Secretaries, Chiefs of Staff and Supervisory Councillors to the sacked local government chairmen over a story attributed to them, where they described the sharp disparity in the sharing template on the disbursed N1 billion received so far by the judgement creditor as “cruel.”
The Forum of Secretaries, Chiefs of Staff and Supervisory Councillors, over the weekend, kicked against the sharing template of the N1 billion part payment of the salaries and allowances of the local government chairmen and councillors sacked from office by Governor Seyi Makinde in May 2019, as ordered by the Supreme Court in its judgement.
It was learnt that trouble started with the disbursement of the part payment when the former secretaries, chiefs of staff and councillors were reportedly paid a sum of N90,000 each while the former chairmen allegedly smiled home with N2.5 million each.
Kicking against the said sharing template, the Forum said the sacked chairmen were not fair to them with the sharing template, saying, the former council chairmen lacked “discretion and total disrespect to its members on the adopted sharing formula.”
But a statement issued on Tuesday by the Councilors’ Forum described the former secretaries, chiefs of staff and supervisory councillors as ingrates.
The statement signed by the Councillors’ Forum chairman, Hon. Adesoji Adesokan, said the former secretaries, chiefs of staff and supervisory councillors were not captured in the Supreme Court judgement and were never a party in the case from the lower court to the apex court.
The statement read: “Our attention has been drawn to the fabrication of lies by the former LG secretaries and others. The entire story was not true, misleading and it’s capable of destroying the peace of the state.
“We refute in its entirety the purported story by former LG secretaries, supervisors and others kicking against the N1billion sharing template as circulated in the online platform of a national newspaper.
“To the best of our knowledge, it was through the intervention of the Ex-ALGON excos that the Forum of Secretaries and others was included in the sharing formula because they were not captured in the judgement at the Supreme Court, and they were never a party in our case from the lower court to the Supreme Court. Where it was stated that all the allowances and entitlements of the ELECTED Chairmen and Councillors of the local governments and LCDAs should be paid.
“ They were not part of the judgement payment. How can anyone be so unkind to the Ex-ALGON excos led by Prince Ayodeji Abass-Aleshinloye and deliberately want to cause confusion to a most dynamic and trusted leadership, more so that the writer is faceless and an impostor!
“These are people who have become rogues and almost destroyed the foundation of the Ex-ALGON leadership that fought the purported dissolution of the elected chairmen and councillors.
“Suffice to say that the mischievous individual who sponsored the dastardly publication to embarrass the amiable ex-ALGON body for personal benefits is an inconsequential rascal known to all members. We urge the public to discountenance the fictitious story as published.This is scandalous with a most haunting venom of the ranting of an ant.
“We cannot sit and watch people of questionable and unstable character that are not even part of our case and never contested an election to make such flagrant and unfortunate statement.”
The councillors asked the ex-ALGON leadership to stop deducting money from their accounts for the former secretaries, chiefs of staff and supervisory councillors, saying “they have proved to be an ingrate after the judgement clarified the status of beneficiaries as “elected officials.”