Decline assent to bill increasing salary of political appointees – Osun group to Gov Adeleke

A group, The Osun Masterminds, TOM, has called on the state governor, Ademola Adeleke, to decline assent to a bill seeking to increase the emoluments of political office holders in the State.

Giving this call during the May 2024 State of the State address in Osogbo on Monday, TOM’s Executive Director, Professor Wasiu Oyedokun-Alli, also described the bill from the Osun State House of Assembly as insensitive and illogical.

Oyedokun-Alli said the bill was adding dead weight to the shoulders of Osun that is just struggling to get out of the mountain of indebtedness that it was buried under a couple of years ago.

Newspot recalled that the Osun State House of Assembly in May passed a bill seeking to increase the salary of some public and political office holders.

The Speaker of the Assembly, Adewale Egbedun, also said the bill will be sent to Adeleke for assent.

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The salary increment bill, titled Osun State Public/Political Office Holders Reviewed Remuneration Package (Amendment No. 2) Bill 2024, was presented to the assembly on April 30.

The bill was presented to the House by Kofoworola Adewunmi, the Majority Leader and the lawmaker representing Ede North State Constituency, as a private member bill.

It was presented to the House by Kofoworola Adewunmi, the Majority Leader and the lawmaker representing Ede North State Constituency, as a private member bill.

Condemning the bill, Oyedokun-Alli said the Assembly planned to further “increase the pressure on our scarce resources at a time it should be condemning the needlessly large population of political appointments already made by the state governor.”

He said, “This is not only disappointing, as we would ordinarily expect more productive actions from a youth-dominated Assembly, it is also irresponsible.

“We call on Governor Adeleke to decline assent to this obnoxious bill as it seeks to over-burden the already over-stretched resources of our ailing State. We cannot continue to add dead weight to the shoulders of a State that is just struggling to get out of the mountain of indebtedness that it was buried under a couple of years ago.

“The Governor must say no to this bill in the interest of the people and deploy whatever resources the State has, to the welfare of workers, whose salaries have already become seriously inadequate, and the common man on the streets, who is currently struggling to survive.

“We call on Governor Adeleke to decline assent to this obnoxious bill as it seeks to over-burden the already over-stretched resources of our ailing State.”