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• Threatens to sue SERAP
From Magnus Eze, Abuja
Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Kayode Fayemi, has denied collecting any pension from Ekiti State government since leaving office on October 14, 2015.
The former Ekiti governor, therefore, challenged the Social Economic Rights Accountability Project (SERAP) to make public details or proof of pension and any other remuneration he was alleged to be enjoying from the state government since leaving office as governor, or publicly apologise to him for including his name in the list of serving public officers currently earning pensions.
Fayemi gave the group seven days to retract the allegation or be ready for legal consequences of the defamatory statement, if it failed to show concrete evidence of the alleged pension payment.
The minister, in a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Yinka Oyebode, in Abuja yesterday, said he had not received a kobo either as pension as passed by the state House of Assembly or as severance package approved by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) from the government since leaving office about three years ago.
While he subscribed to scrutiny of public officials, the former governor admonished that such an endeavour should be done with due diligence to avoid making wild allegations that are capable of misleading the public.
“Contrary to SERAP’s statement, the fact is that Dr. Fayemi does not enjoy any pension from Ekiti State government neither has he received any severance package as approved by RMAFC.
“All SERAP needed to have done in this case was to place a call to the minister or carry out a thorough investigation at the Ekiti State Ministry of Finance, before going public on such a sensitive matter.
“The leadership of SERAP is urged to do the needful, substantiate the allegation with proof or retract the embarrassing statement and offer a public apology to the minister within seven days or be prepared to defend it in the law court,” the statement stated.
