The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress(APC) has described as untrue the allegation that former Governor Adegboyega Oyetola and other former officials of the state carted away vehicles worth N2.9 billion.
It also described those making the allegations as comedians, who are only seeking for ways of mitigating the effect of their embarrassing outings at the Osun Election Petition Tribunal.
In a statement by the party’s Media Director, Chief Kola Olabisi, the party said, all the panels set up by the government already had their reports even before they were inaugurated.
“Take a look at the video attached, you will observe the vehicles they announce that they are looking for are already being used by the current deputy governor. Yet, they claimed they did due diligence.
“Should we continue to believe characters like that?
“How did they come about the cost? Are they using the current market value or how?
“Talking about this particular panel, have they concluded their sitting? When was their report submitted?
“We asked these questions because only two days ago, the governor was quoted to have said any of the former political appointees that wants his November salary should return the vehicle in his custody.
“Or is that also part of the recommendations of the panel?
“For clarity sake, the former governor and his deputy, by law and convention, are entitled to certain privileges and these are well documented.
Apart from those vehicles which their offices permit them to take home, they never took any other item.
“As for the commissioners and other appointees who are also statutorily entitled, the governor formally approved their used official vehicles to them as gift for their meritorious service to the state since they are not entitled to either pension or gratuity.
“It is also important to point out that this gesture is not limited to political appointees alone, as in the past, career officers had also been allowed to go home with their used vehicles as gift on retirement for serving the state meritoriously.
“This fact can be verified as administrations before that of the immediate past practised it.
“The Osun PDP-led government must, for once, be serious and should stop behaving like comedians,” he concluded.
