Oyetola’s appointment of Perm. Secretaries, ploy to destabilise incoming administration – Adeleke

Senator Ademola Adeleke, the incoming Governor of Osun State, claimed on Monday that Adegboyega Oyetola, the current governor, had intentions to promote his friends to the position of Permanent Secretaries.

Olawale Rasheed, Adeleke’s spokesman, made the claim in a statement, explicitly saying that the Oyetola government intended to choose 15 new permanent secretaries weeks before his term ended.

According to the statement, Oyetola was already gathering the names of the supporters he intended to designate as PS, and they might be announced at any time.

It further stated that Adeleke would review the state of the bureaucracy in the state when he took office in order to uphold due process and guarantee that senior staff members were placed in the proper positions through an open and merit-based procedure.

It urged Oyetola to abandon the proposal because doing so would amount to using his appointment-making authority at a time when the electorate had chosen a new leader.

“We note that Oyetola has been running the government with just about nine permanent secretaries for the past three and half years. How he came about the idea of increasing the number at the twilight of his administration’s tenure is still not clear.

“As an outgoing Governor, it cannot be good intentioned for you to appoint critical officials like permanent secretaries when a new leader is about to take over the administration of the state. The incoming governor has the right to determine the team he will work with. It should be clear that predetermining the make up of incoming government is an effort in futility.

“The outgoing Governor’s decision is therefore in bad taste and a continuation of current efforts to destabilise the incoming administration.

“We also call on senior bureaucrats not to accept any Greek gift that may end up hurting their career. To be forewarned, is to be careful,” the statement concluded.

However, when approached for comment, Sunday Akere, the Special Adviser to the Governor of Osun on political affairs, stated that Oyetola’s first term would only finish at midnight on November 26 and that any action performed before that point was legal.

Akere said, “It is unfortunate that the PDP seems not to know what is right to what is wrong. For goodness sake, the first term of Gov Gboyega Oyetola ends on midnight of November 26, 2022.

“Whatever action or decision taken by the governor is covered by the laws of the land. PDP should wait for their turn, if any and allow us to deliver on the mandate given to us by the people of Osun State.”