All Progressives Congress (APC) Governorship candidate in Edo, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu has condemned the non-payment of three- month allowance to Edo COVID-19 mobile screening team by Governor Godwin Obaseki.
The team staged a protest on Tuesday in Benin City, denouncing the State Government for its failure to pay allowances and abrupt dismissal of the programme without settlement of the outstanding bills.
In a statement by the Director of Communication and Media of his Campaign Organisation, John Mayaki, Ize-Iyamu described the actions of the Edo State Government towards the “patriotic” screening team as “callous, inhumane, and unacceptable”.
He demanded immediate payment of the allowances alongside a public statement of apology by the state government and reassured the screening team of his solidarity and support to ensure all their demands were met without any retributive actions.
The statement reads: “We observed today with concern the protest staged by young men and women of our state engaged by the Obaseki-led Edo State Government to form the mobile team that conducted screenings for COVID-19 in Edo State over Governor Godwin Obaseki’s refusal to pay their due allowances for three full months.”
“These people are patriotic citizens who carried out an important assignment, at great risk to their own personal health, which proved crucial in the fight against the viral disease in the state. To see them subjected to such indignity and inhumane treatment by the Obaseki-administration is saddening and extremely disappointing.”
He added: “It is another sad episode reflective of the Obaseki-administration’s heartlessness and irresponsible prioritisation of politics over the welfare of the people.
“Even as he continues to double down on doubtful claims that his administration has spent billions on the management of COVID-19 in the state without any accountability, the people have voiced loud dissatisfaction with all government interventions.”
“While we demand the immediate payment of all allowances due to the mobile screening team with an attendant public statement of apology to them and other members of the public for the government’s insensitivity and callous treatment, we wish to express our solidarity with the protestors as they struggle for what is rightfully theirs and convey our commitment to ensure that all their demands are met quickly and without retributive actions feared by some with knowledge of the tyrannical tendencies of the Obaseki-administration.”