Workers To Adeleke: Don’t Be Misguided, Say No To Tenure Extension Of AG

• As CDHR Accuses Governor Of Circumventing PSR

The controversies raised by the reported move of Governor Ademola Adeleke to extend the years of service of the Accountant General of the state, Mr. Rasheed Olalere, are yet to settle.

OSUN DEFENDER noted that Olalere is due for retirement on March 14, 2024, when he will be attaining the mandatory retirement age of 60 years. 

Though the Governor, through his spokesperson, Mallam Rasheed Olawale, denied any move to extend the year of service of “retiring permanent secretaries,” some workers in the state civil service have insisted that Adeleke was making a political statement on the matter. 

According to the workers, Adeleke would have expressly mentioned the Accountant General in the statement released by his spokesperson if he had no plan to keep him in office after his retirement age. 

The workers who spoke under the auspices of the Osun State Workers Union, in a letter addressed to Adeleke, on Monday, warned that extending the tenure of the AG will have a negative effect on the civil service.

A copy of the letter sighted by OSUN DEFENDER yesterday was signed by Mr. Alabi Oluwaseun, the Chairman of the union. 

The letter partly reads: “The attention of great and ever-conscious Osun State Workers that comprise the core civil service in the state and are efficiently piloting the activities and policies of the government was drawn to a statement credited to the Spokesperson of the Governor that the government doesn’t have plans to extend the tenure of retiring officers in the Civil Service.

“The Spokesperson specifically mentioned the Permanent Secretary without recourse to the current Accountant General and the person of Mr. Olalere Alabi Rashidi, the present occupier, who will be retiring from service on March 14, 2024, at the mandatory retirement age of 60 years. 

“We deduced and confirmed that the intention of the government under leadership of Governor Adeleke is to allow the outgoing Accountant General is to remain in office after his retirement age.

“We call on good people of Osun State to advise Mr Governor not to extend the tenure or elongate the service year of Mr Rashidi Alabi Olalere the current and outgoing Accountant General. 

“Mr Governor is a perfect gentleman and team player, he should not allow some disgruntled elements of no value to instigate or advise him to make a wrong decision that will have a negative effect on the civil service and bad result for our dear and lovely Governor.”

Meanwhile, the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), Osun State Branch, has also cautioned Adeleke against granting an extension of service years to the Accountant General.

CDHR, in a letter addressed to the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Hon. Wale Egbedun, on Tuesday, accused Adeleke and Olalere of an attempt to circumvent the Public Service Rules in the state through a move to extend the service year of the AG.

According to the organisation, Olalere ought to have submitted his letter of retirement but refused to do that because of his plan to remain in active service after the required time. 

CDHR said the disregard for the public service rule by top civil servants is not only damaging the referred civil service but soiling the beautiful image of the State.

“The idea of extending the service year of retiring Public officers is a stampede of the Public Service Rule 020810”, the organisation stated.

CDHR demanded that the assembly should investigate what it described as open disregard to the Public Service Rules by Adeleke, the process that led to the extension of the service year of the Head of Service, and why the Accountant General and other Permanent Secretaries whose retirements are less than six months were yet to submit their letter of retirement as stated in the Public Service Rule.