Adeleke denies ordering sack of 12,000 workers

*We didn’t employ 12,000 workforce, says Oyetola’s CPS

By Deborah Oladejo, Osogbo

Controversy is trailing the alleged order by Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State to sack the 12,000 workers purportedly employed by the immediate past administration of governor Gboyega Oyetola after he lost the July 16th, 2022 governorship election.

While Oyetola said there was never a time his government employed 12,000 people into the workforce, Governor Adeleke has also denied that he ever ordered the sack of any worker.

Adeleke’s spokesperson, Mallam Rasheed Olawale said there was nowhere in the executive orders issued by the governor where the issue of sack of anyone was mentioned.

He told Westernpost that what was reported in some media was a campaign of misinformation and misrepresentation by the opposition to malign the new government.

According to Olawale, the executive orders were meant to review issues of illegalities adding that the intention is to cross-check the fact, fact-check to know if what was done was in compliance with the law and due process and public service regulations and if they were not, the panel will recommend areas of reversal, amendment and corrections.

Olawale said: “What you saw in the media is just campaign of misinformation by operatives of the previous government. They are now in opposition and that is now their stock in trade. The fact is always there. There was nowhere in the statement of yesterday (Monday) where issue of sack of anyone was mentioned.

“The executive orders were misreported, misinterpreted, misrepresented deliberately by a section of the media. There was never the mention of the sack of any workers or any monarch. 

“What was read yesterday was that, we set up review panels; what baffles me was that how can you sack when you already put a review panel in place? There was nothing like that.

“Ten thousand people were employed. Were the processes followed when they were employed? Were they qualified? Was the public service regulation in terms of announcement of vacancies published? This panel will look into all these and then come up with recommendations,” he said.

Also reacting, Oyetola, through his spokesperson, Ismail Omipidan dared the Adeleke government to publish the list of the purported 12,000 workers.

“Once a lie is told, you need a one and thousand lies to cover it up. In no distant future, the people of Osun will know who the real liars are,” Omipidan said.

Tthe Caretaker Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Akindele Adekunle before the swearing-in accused the Oyetola government of employing 12,000 workers into various cadres since the July 16th election and threatened that when Adeleke assumed office, all the recently employed workers would be sacked.

He had said: “We also want to put on records that the outgoing administration has employed over 12, 000 workers of various cadres since the July 16 elections. We have been warning members of the public not to engage in such bankrupting agenda. We had also issue several statements declaring such employment exercise a nullity. 

“Any employment conducted in the last several weeks will not stand and will not enter the state payroll. We are in the know that majority of those employed against due process are members of the APC purposely designed to weaken the financial base of the state. Our administration will not hesitate to sack all those illegally employed by Mr Oyetola in his last days in office.” 

Meanwhile, President of the National Union of Local Government Employees in the state, Dr. Nathaniel Ogungbade refused to comment on the ongoing altercation.

“I am only a civil servant, not a politician,” he said.