CDHR threatens to sue Adeleke over extension of HoS, Accountant General’s tenure

CDHR threatens to sue Adeleke over extension of HoS, Accountant General’s tenure

The Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) as threatened to drag Governor Ademola Adeleke to the court over extension of tenure of Accountant General, Rasheed Olalere,  and Head of Service, Ayanleye Aina.

The group alleged that the House of Assembly has failed to act on its letter and has concluded to approach the anti-graft agency or go to the court.

Speaking at a press conference at the correspondents’ chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Osogbo, Wednesday, Comrade Emmanuel Olowu, the CDHR Chairman, said it is illegal to keep those whose tenure have expired in office after reaching their individual’s retirement age.

“While Governor Adeleke approved the extension of the service year of the Head of Service via a letter signed by the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Alhaji Kazeem Akinleye on 04/12/2023, we have it on good authority that the Governor has also decided to retain the Accountant General.

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Noting that the Accountant General who was to retire on March 14, 2024 has remained in office and continued to perform the AG’s duty, the group alleged that there is no approval for his extension of service yet.

“The Accountant-General is still in the office after retirement. The governor has been acting with impunity; and the House of Assembly is also an accomplice in disregarding the Osun Public Service Rule 2011,” Olowu said.

The group also alleged that the Executive Secretary of the Natural and Mineral Resources, Salawu Olatiloye, is still in office after retirement, alleging that the state assembly has failed to act on the letter written to it to caution the state governor.

He said the group would be forced to approach anti-graft agency if the governor fail to withdraw the three-year extension of service years given to the Head of Service and order all Permanent Secretaries whose retirements are less than six months and who are yet to submit their letter of retirement as stated in the Public Service Rule to commence the process immediately.

However, the governor’s spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, said governor Adeleke was not the first governor in Osun state to extend tenure of a serving appointees, saying “In the last 13 years, governors extended tenures of permanent secretaries, Head of Services, Accountant Generals among others. The precedent exists already.

“We however want to reiterate that the Governor has not extended the tenure of any permanent secretary. The Governor had earlier declared that extension of service is not a policy but an instrument to meet subsisting needs of the state leadership,” Rasheed said.

CDHR threatens to sue Adeleke over extension of HoS, Accountant General’s tenure