The Special Adviser to Osun State Governor on Media, Mr. Sola Fasure, has said the retirement of the state’s Accountant-General, Mr. Akintayo Alaba Kolawole, followed due process.
In a statement yesterday in Osogbo, the state capital, Fasure regretted that “a section of the media, on September 9, went to town with half-truth, speculation and outright falsehood on the disengagement from service of Mr. Kolawole as the Accountant-General of the state”.
He added: “These reports ranged from the spurious to the totally ridiculous and are not worthy of repetition. For the avoidance of doubt, Mr Kolawole retired voluntarily from service, having attained the statutory age of 60 on August 11.
“He duly notified the state government through the Head of Service (HoS) on May 11. The HoS also notified the governor on June 11 and Governor Rauf Aregbesola approved the retirement on June 16.
“As statutorily required of him, Mr. Kolawole wrote to the banks and other financial institutions doing business with the government to notify them of the invalidity of his signature since he will be stepping out of service and will no longer be competent to act as signatory to government accounts or transact business on behalf of the government.
“Having served the state meritoriously for 31 years, Mr Kolawole deserves a happy and peaceful retirement, not wild and unfounded allegations that maligned his person and portrayed him as a disloyal and troublesome civil servant.
“It is regrettable that Mr. Kolawole’s retirement has been twisted and complete falsehood built around this due process. We are not in doubt that this falsehood was concocted at the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP’s) secretariat and this tiny section of the media as its willing tools. Mr Kolawole has since set the records straight and debunked the lies…”