The Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM), Osun State Chapter, has said Governor Ademola Adeleke and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led government in the state have no fundamental achievement to show for their first year in office.
The group stated that the Adeleke government has failed to improve the living conditions of the people of the state.
This was contained in a statement jointly signed by the State Coordinator and State Secretary, Alfred Adegoke and Kola Ibrahim, and made available to journalists in Osogbo, on Monday.
They called on the state government to issue immediate payment of all arrears of salaries, pensions and gratuities the government owes all categories of workers and retirees.
Also agitated for immediate increase in salaries of workers and pensions of retirees due to economic hardship on workers occasioned by fuel subsidy removal.
According to the statement, “Given the support offered by the Adeleke regime by people of the state, there is a lot of expectations on the new administration to improve the living conditions of the people of the state.
“A year into the Adeleke/PDP government, there seems to be no direction for resolving all the various challenges on ground. While the APC government left rot in governance, the PDP government obviously has no solution within the framework of capitalism. While the Adeleke government raised alarm over the looting of the state resources and huge indebtedness by the APC government, it looks like the government only wanted to use it to score political points rather than recovering the looted state funds.
“If the government is serious about recovering the looted funds, it should set up a democratic and open probe committee comprising government officials, representatives of workers, retirees, relevant professional groups, etc., while a task force for recovery will subsequently be established to recover the identified loot. But can the Adeleke government undertake this task, when stalwarts of its party are also salivating for their own ‘juicy’ opportunity.
“The Adeleke government has prided itself as a promoter of workers’ and retirees’ welfare; yet this mere grandstanding. It is not actually a detour from the past. For instance, in the last one year of Adeleke administration, only two (2) months payment, out of 30-month arrears of half-salary and half-pension owed workers and government retirees inherited from the previous government have been paid.
“Also, the majority of government retirees on contributory pensions, especially those who retired from 2017 to 2023, have not received their pensions, including their own contributions; and thus have been subjected to excruciating poverty.”
