Mixed reactions have continued to trail comments by former Ogun State Commissioner for Health and People’s Democratic Party senator representing Ogun Central, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo, after she admitted approving the payment of monthly salaries to individuals who were not government employees during her tenure in office.
Obasanjo, who is seeking re-election to the Senate on the platform of the PDP, made the disclosure during a radio programme in Abeokuta, saying she authorised the continued payment of some political appointees who were not civil servants.
According to her, officials had approached her for direction after discovering that some names on the payroll belonged to politicians who were not government workers.
She said, “I want to tell you something. When I was Commissioner, they brought to my attention the names of some people who were not government workers but politicians receiving monthly salaries.
“They asked whether the payments should be stopped. I asked how much they were being paid and whether they were indigenes of Ogun State. When they answered that they were Ogun indigenes and that the amount involved was insignificant compared to government revenue, I directed that the payments should continue.”
Her remarks have, however, sparked criticism from members of the public, with many describing the action as unlawful and a violation of public trust.
An Abeokuta resident, Mr Olayiwola Ibraheem, said Obasanjo’s comments suggested she considered the payments an act of goodwill, insisting that such justification was unacceptable.
He said it was disturbing that a serving senator seeking another term in office could publicly admit approving the payment of public funds to people who were not government employees.
According to him, if Nigeria had stronger institutions, the former commissioner should already be facing an investigation over the revelation.
Another resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, argued that such an admission could attract criminal prosecution in many developed countries.
He questioned why the beneficiaries were not formally employed if there was justification for paying them with public funds.
The resident also urged Obasanjo to apologise to Nigerians, describing the action as “a major act of fraud rather than a favour.”
The controversy also comes amid Obasanjo’s response to allegations by the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate, Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, popularly known as Yayi, who had reportedly asked her to refund money allegedly provided for her political ambition before she defected from the APC to the PDP.
Reacting to the development, some residents argued that if Obasanjo believed Adeola lacked integrity, she should not have engaged in any financial dealings with him.
