Osun State : Prof Oyedokun-Alli Condemns Bill Passed For Salary Increment,Calls It Insensitive

The coalition of civil society groups under the aegis of The Osun Masterminds has warned Governor Ademola Adeleke against signing a bill passed by the House of Assembly that increases the salaries of political officeholders by over 100 percent.

The Nation reported that during last Monday’s plenary session, Speaker of the House of Assembly, Adewale Egbedun, passed the Osun State Public/Political Office Holders Revised Remuneration Package Amendment No 2, Bill 2024, and sent it to Governor Adeleke for approval.

The bill proposes significant salary increases for appointed political office holders. Specifically, the salary for the chairman (part-time) would rise from N110,000 to N287,000, for Members of the Board (Part-time) from N68,750 to N210,000, and for the appointed Part-time Rent Tribunal from N82,500 to N210,000.

Meanwhile, the executive director of the coalition, Professor Wasiu Oyedokun-Alli during the monthly ‘State-of-the-State Address’ on Monday described the amendment of the bill by the assembly as grossly insensitive and illogical.

He said: “In this same state where the government could not make clear-cut palliative plans to cushion the biting effects of the harsh economy, the State Assembly is proposing an increase to the already-bogus salaries of political office holders where civil servants are currently finding it really hard to survive. This is irresponsible and unacceptable.”

He cautioned that passing such obnoxious bills flagrantly disrespects the mood of the average Osun dweller, saying, “At a time we all should be condemning the needlessly large population of political appointments already made by the Governor, the Assembly wants to further increase the pressure on our scarce resources.

“We call on Governor Adeleke to decline assent to this obnoxious bill. He 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.”