The All Progressives Congress in Osun State has claimed that the government is utilizing a N20,000 palliative distribution program as a calculated effort to manipulate voters before the August 15 governorship election. In an official release from Osogbo on Wednesday, the APC Campaign Council dismissed the financial aid as a politically driven scheme rather than a legitimate social welfare effort.
Oluremi Omowaiye, head of the APC’s media committee, stated that thousands of residents and civil servants received these funds directly into their accounts shortly before the vote. He specifically noted that National Youth Service Corps members, who typically receive a monthly stipend of N5,000 from the state, were suddenly granted N20,000. Omowaiye argued that this timing suggests a misuse of public resources to gain political favor.
Furthermore, the APC criticized the administration for prioritizing these payments while leaving other financial obligations unaddressed, such as two years of unpaid cooperative deductions and pension remittances. The opposition party pointed out that promised funding for gratuity arrears in the 2025 budget has yet to materialize for pensioners. They labeled the direct deposits as an unlawful strategy to influence the electorate.
Conversely, Governor Ademola Adeleke’s spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, defended the initiative as a necessary measure to help public servants cope with ongoing economic hardships. The government maintains that these periodic disbursements are consistent with their dedication to worker welfare, noting that such support programs were initiated well before the implementation of the new minimum wage.
