Osun PDP Threatens To Nullify All Appointments By Oyetola

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun State has vowed to nullify all recent illegal and ill-intentioned appointments by the outgoing administration immediately after the Governor-elect, Senator Ademola Adeleke assumes the mantle of leadership on November 27. 

The party made this on Friday in a statement signed by the Osun PDP caretaker committee chairman, Akindele Adekunle in Osogbo.

"All key appointments such as the ones for Iree and Esa Oke Polytechnics as well as the recent criminal appointment of a new Project Coordinator for the World Bank -sponsored RAAMP project will be promptly upturned as they were done in contravention of enabling laws of the institutions and regulatory protocol governing the critical rural development project. 

"All illegal employment exercise recently conducted and letters subsequent issued, whether backdated or current, stand invalidated from November 28 as the supposed beneficiaries were sufficiently warned against falling for the evil-motivated designed populate state payroll with APC cronies", the statement warned. 

The statement also noted with regret that Osun state is about to lose out on the $150m World Bank-supported Rural Access and Agricultural Mobility Agency (RAAMP) due to the illegal sacking of the present project Coordinator whose appointment was advertised and proper selection was supervised by world Bank officials led by the National Coordinator in the year 2020. 

"We want to inform the public that the authentic Coordinator, Engr Okediya was illegally removed without due process and approval of World Bank officials and was hurriedly replaced with Engr Mumini Adekunle, the present Special Adviser on rural development who also doubles as a contractor with RAAMP and partners with Dutum Engineering as well as full ownership of Integrated Logistics. 

"Engr Mumuni was the contractor in charge of high penetrative chemicals used in sealing the base course of all RAMP 2 Project in township sections running into over #800 million naira.

"We learnt reliably that the agency is still owing him some money from the contracts executed.

"The greed for last-minute looting of state assets now knows no boundary. Or how can a contractor be the project coordinator overnight? 

"As World Bank may cancel expected inflow on the project if this illegality remains, we promise to reverse this greedy criminal conduct immediately after the PDP government assumes office.

"We will not allow Osun to become a laughing stock before the World Bank which has a standard procedure for the appointment of project coordinators worldwide. 

"We are also warning accountants and financial institutions against consenting to last-minute fund movement.

"We learnt the accountant attached to the agency is been harassed with phone calls to sign illegal counterpart funds in exchange for audio road construction projects as a parting gift for this expired government.

"No public servant should endorse illegality.

"We want to alert the public that we have prepared our petition for the urgent attention of the EFCC, ICPC and NFI.

"We detailed all the infractions and we challenged the anti-corruption agencies to take up this criminal conduct," the statement noted.

The PDP equally frowned at the recent appointments of new Rectors for Iree and Esa Oke Polytechnics.

"The two institutions have their enabling laws which the state government violated to impose new Rectors on the institutions. 

"We have studied the situation and we make bold to say that those appointments are unsustainable and will be cancelled once the PDP takes over the government.

"All similar appointments across the state tertiary institutions will be reviewed and reversed," the party affirmed. 

"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 issued 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 the 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," the party affirmed. 

The Osun PDP further noted that a lot of fund movement is ongoing within the state government and calls the attention of financial institutions to the need to avoid complicity and criminal partnership. 

"We learnt of N4billion paid to Infinity last week, a firm in which top officials of the state government have a controlling share.

"The firm is engaged with tax management. We are still in shock as to why such payment when our pensioners are dying in their numbers.

"We call on the financial institutions not to become partners in crime with the outgoing government," the statement concluded.