Elder statesman and chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Bode George, has revealed that salaries of Osun State Local Government workers are being paid from the pockets of the Adeleke family.
He said music star, David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido; his father, Dr. Deji Adeleke; and Governor Ademola Adeleke have been paying the workers.
George made the revelation in an interview with Nigeria Info FM on Saturday as he shed light on the news surrounding Adeleke’s initial defection from the PDP to the All Progressives Congress (APC), the ruling party at the centre and in most states of the federation.
According to him, the Federal Government has withheld the state’s allowances for about six months, forcing the Adeleke family to shoulder the
The host of the programme: Jimi Disu, had asked George, a former Military Administrator of Ondo State: “What is happening with Governor Adeleke? Is he going to the APC or not?”
In his response, George, a retired Naval Officer, drew parallels between the situation of the state and the reason behind the “now cancelled” defection plan of Adeleke from the PDP to the APC.
He said: “I had had an in-depth discussion with him and the first time we spoke, he informed me that he would be leaving the party.
“I was shell-shocked and I said to him: ‘Your Excellency, think very carefully and deeply.’
“His state has not been paid their local government allowances from the Federation Account.
“The Federal Government is owing Osun about N6 billion that he had to carry the burden between him, his older brother, and his nephew, Davido.”
George said Governor Adeleke had decided to take up the burden of paying salaries so as not to disappoint those who believed in him enough to vote him into power.
He said: “For the last five to six months, they have been funding the salaries from their personal pocket because the governor could not watch the workers going home at the end of the month without their salaries.
“The court has already ruled that the Federal Government should pay them the allocation but nobody has done that.
“So, I asked him to be careful and take lessons from how his older brother, the late Isiaka Adeleke, also a former governor of Osun State, was treated by the APC.
“If you get there with your people and they organise any primaries and end up announcing someone else as the winner, your political career is gone.”
George said after their discussion, he was shocked to see Adeleke at the last National Executive Committee meeting of the PDP in Abuja.
He said as soon as Adeleke saw him, he came to express gratitude to him for the advice he gave him, pledging his loyalty to PDP.