The protesters marched through some streets in Osogbo, the state capital, demanding the payment of the money owed them by the government.

The pensioners started a three-day protest on Tuesday and they gathered again on Wednesday in continuation of the agitation for payment of their entitlements, which they claimed the state government had not been paying.

Oloyede had written a petition against Aregbesola’s administration in 2015, detailing the alleged failure of the government in many areas, including non-payment of workers’ salaries and pensions.

She was eventually recommended for a compulsory retirement by the National Judicial Council.

The retired judge, who was helped at the Olaiya Junction into a mini truck used by the protesting pensioners as their platform, urged the retirees to bring their permanent voter cards while coming for the final day of the protest on Thursday (today).

Oloyede sang labour songs and urged the aged protesters not to be weary in the demand for their rights, saying they would all be alive to collect their entitlements.

The retired judge said the primary duties of any responsible government were welfare of the citizens and their security, adding that any government that failed in the two areas had failed woefully in the discharge of its primary duties.

The retired judge said pensioners would be persistent in their struggle to ensure that their pensions and gratuities were paid.

She said, “Labourers deserve their wages and it is covetousness to spend what belongs to other people. It is a crime to spend pensions and gratuities of the people and deny them their rights. We are not beggars, we worked for the entitlements and the government saved this money for us while we were serving the state.”

Asked if she was also being owed, Oloyede said, “Is there any pensioner that is not being owed in this state? Some are being paid half pensions and others are being owed.

“The whole essence of government is for the welfare and security of the people. Anybody who is satisfied with hardship can choose to ensure the government continues, but those who are not satisfied should vote for who they like with their PVCs.”

One of the leaders of Forum of 2011/2012 Retirees, Alhaji Yemi Lawal, said the state government was owing some of the pensioners about 18 months as a result of part payment of their pensions.

Lawal said, “But pensioners will not stop demanding for their rights. The state government has concentrated on infrastructural development at the expense of workers and pensioners’ welfare.”

Meanwhile, one of the retirees, a 78-year-old school teacher, Joseph Olaoye, slumped during the protest.

Olaoye’s colleagues rushed him to the bus belonging to the Nigeria Union of Pensioners parked at the venue of the protest and gave him water and glucose.

The old man, who was a teacher at AUD Primary School in the Gbonmi area of Osogbo, became stable and refused to leave the scene but sat inside the bus till the end of the protest.

The Commissioner for Information, Adelani Baderinwa, described the pensioners as ungrateful people who had refused to acknowledge the efforts made by the governor to pay them.

“It is out of place to say that the administration of Governor Rauf Aregbesola is insensitive to the plight of the pensioners. The protesting pensioners are out for a cheap blackmail against the administration of Governor Rauf Aregbesola.

“It is on record that this group of pensioners had at one time or the other in the past lied against the government of the State of Osun.

“The government wishes to call the attention of the people of the State of Osun to the fact that the 2011/2012 group of pensioners does not represent the totality of pensioners in the state. The 2011/2012 pensioners are politicians and not pensioners. They are in pursuit of political matters.

“It amounts to ingratitude, mischief and politicisation of fact to accuse Aregbesola of not paying pensions and gratuities by anybody. It is very unfortunate that some of our senior citizens allowed themselves to be used by politicians to disrupt the ongoing progress of the state.”

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The group in a statement expressed shock that the Chairman of the judicial body who is also the Chief Justice of the Federation (CJN), Justice Mahmud Mohammed will in the first instance treat a petition sent to NJC by one Emily Richard-Obire claiming that Justice Oloyede snatched her husband.

According to a statement in Osogbo on Tuesday signed by CSCEO Chairman and its Director of Mobilisation, Comrade Adeniyi Sulaiman and Rev. Theophilus Ayodeji, the group said going by the query dated July 28, 2015 to Justice Oloyede, it appeared that the NJC was falling into the antics of politicians by turning the NJC into a customary court where marital issues are being settled.

“Is it not an irony that several serious issues and many petitions bordering on judicial misconducts against many judges across the country are before the NJC unattended to, yet, the NJC had all the time to intervene in a marital matter of Justice Oloyede.

“If this matter had been on with Justice Oloyede since 2011 as claimed by Mrs Emily Obire, why was she coming out now in 2015 to send a petition to the NJC and at a time she was fighting this battle with Mr. Rauf Aregbesola?

“Justice Oloyede has the right to love and marry whoever she wants under the law and has the right to practice her religion without any hindrance. We wonder how many family matters NJC will need to settle among several judges in the federation.

“We understand the diversionary tactics of Aregbesola and his cronies over the weighty evidences of corruption presented the by this erudite judge against the governor. But for NJC to have fallen into this trap beats our imagination as coalition of civil societies.

“We raised alarm few weeks ago about the over N4.7 billion being raised through Operation Save Rauf Aregbesola Project (OSRAP) to bribe the NJC members and other stakeholders against Justice Oloyede and with the recent happenings, we hope that NJC will be able to watch its linen clean in the messy Osun affairs.

Speaking on the petition written by Mrs. Richard-Obire that his former husband was snatched, the group blasted Barrister Femi Falana for helping Aregbesola to “unearth a dead matter just as to help his friend, Aregbesola to disgrace courageous Oloyede and to score cheap political points”.

“Our group has thoroughly investigated that matter and found out that Mr. Falana was a lawyer to Mrs. Richard-Obire in the divorce case filed with her husband, Mr. Ricahrd Obire in 2012 at an Ikeja High Court in Lagos.

“Already, the case with suit number ID/473HD/2012 has been decided and the court, presided over by Justice (Mrs) L.A.M Folami had legally dissolved this marriage between Mrs Emily and her former husband and so the case remained closed. We believe that by the law of the federation, Mr. Obire has the right in the world to love whomever he wants and to marry anyone without any prejudice’

“Our group has it on good authority that Emily’s husband, Mr Richard Obire had to file a divorce case because he caught her wife (Emily) having an extra- marital affairs with another man outside their wedlock in Ikeja, Lagos State in year 2010.

“Although, we are sure that the woman judge was able to defend herself as our check at the state High Court indicated that she had replied to this query through the office of the Chairman of the State Judicial Commission”, the group stated.

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Oloyede, a serving judge in Osun State Judiciary, had written a petition to the House against the governor asking the lawmakers to impeach him based on the allegations contained in her petition.

The Speaker of the House, Najeem Salaam, on Thursday inaugurated a seven-man committee headed by the Deputy Speaker, Akintunde Adegboye, with a two weeks grace to investigate the allegations and report back to the House.

Although the ruling All Progressives Congress has 24 lawmakers out of the 26 members in the House, none of the two Peoples Democratic Party lawmakers was included in the committee.

When asked why the House excluded lawmakers from the opposition party in the committee, the Speaker explained that the House of Assembly was one as there was no division among the legislators along party lines.

The Speaker said that it would be necessary for the petitioner and the governor to appear before the committee which would sit in camera.

He expressed the confidence that the committee would do a thorough job and send their report to the House where every lawmaker would have an opportunity to comment on their findings.

“I acknowledge that the whole world is waiting for what we have to do with the petition forwarded to us by Justice Folahanmi Oloyede.

“I must disclose to you that Governor Rauf Aregbesola has obliged us his response to the petition and we have constituted a committee to look into the matter with a view to investigating the allegations levelled against him and I am confident that the honourable men in this committee would do justice to the matter before them without fear or favour.

“The House stands as one; there is no opposition in the House. We are one, we see ourselves as one.

“The two of them – the judge and the governor – will be invited separately. Some of them can employ the services of lawyers but their physical appearance will be necessary. This will allow them to give evidence to back up their positions if they have any.”

However, the Minority Leader, Oladejo Makinde, a PDP member, who represents Ife Central at the House, kicked against the exclusion of the members of the PDP from the committee.

While speaking with journalists after the inauguration of the committee, Makinde said he disagreed with the explanation of the Speaker, saying there was no way the ‘lopsided committee’ would be transparent against Aregbesola who is also from the ruling party.

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The group, in a statement on Thursday, urged the governor not to be distracted by the antics of the opposition who it said are bent on derailing his vision for the good people of the state.

In a statement signed by the Chairman and Secretary of it’s coordinating council, Comrades Dayo Ogunlana and Rasaq Olokoba, the group stated that the governor as a worthy Yoruba son whose achievement in the state is unprecedented, he must be encouraged to deliver more.

It said that the leadership of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the state should be ashamed of their failure in the last gubernatorial election in the state, as Aregbesola thrashed the party and equally floored them at the tribunal which it said is responsible for the sustained campaign of calumny against the governor.

According to COSEG” We must commend the governor of the state of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola for the recent payment of part of the salaries of workers in the state. We have known him to be a promise keeper, sincere politician and a devout Muslim.

“His achievement in the state since assumption of office in 2010 speaks volume, from the free meal for students, massive road reconstruction across the state, infrastructural development and above all adequate security in the state.”

It is important to note that the state is not the only one owing workers, but agents of the past government habeas singled out Ogbeni for condemnation, while states being ruled by their defeated party still owe the workers, yet, they a’re quiet”

The group also berated a judge of the Osun state high court, Justice Folahanmi Oloyede for asking for the impeachment of the governor, describing such as a statement from a “confused mind.”

It maintained that the judge from her statement has demonstrated partisanship in the matter as she is already biased and will not engage in thorough analysis of the matter if taken to her for ruling.

“The judge had shown that she is speaking for the PDP as her call for the Governor’s impeachment has shown her partisanship in this matter and most of the words utter by the PDP tallies with her submission.

“It is on this note, that we advise justice Oloyede to resign from the noble bench and join her colleagues in the opposition as her judgements furthermore, will not be taken seriously.,” the group concluded.

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The Speaker, who is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress just like the governor stated that the Assembly had written to Aregbesola demanding his response to the allegations leveled against him by the petitioner.

He said, “The onus of proof lies on the petitioner who has expressed her readiness to defend her allegations before the parliamentarians, while Gov. Aregbesola’s response would also be awaited for the sake of fair hearing.

“The legislature has elected to give Justice Oloyede’s petition a critical attention, because she is a serving judge In the state, and justice demands that her allegations be given a look, for she holds a prime position in the judiciary, an arm of government in the the state.

”The House of Assembly has asked Governor Rauf Aregbesola to forward his response on the allegations raised by Justice Oloyede Folahanmi of Osun State High Court, having made a copy of the petition available to him on Wednesday by the Office of the Speaker.”

Salaam admitted that the state had a problem paying its workers but urged members of the opposition and critics of the Aregbesola administration to stop blackmailing the governor.

He appealed to them to channel their grievances in a peaceful manner so as not to disturb the peace of the state.

He said that the House was always ready to interface between the people and the government without compromising the independence of the legislature as guaranteed by the constitution.

The parliament under my watch would not be stampeded on any issue before it; thoroughness would be deployed into the facts presented without prejudice, for House of Assembly is a shrine of democracy, where democratic value and ethos must be upheld.

“Yes, we have challenges in our nation, and our state is not immune from the hydra-headed challenges, but with the coordinated responses of the government at all levels, as it is ongoing, those challenges would soon be history.”

It will be recalled that the judge, who is serving in Osun State Judiciary wrote a petition to the House of Assembly over the issue of nonpayment of almost eight months salaries in the state.

The judge’s petition read in part, “Consequently, the admitted inability of Mr. Governor and his deputy to pay pensions, salaries and allowances for periods ranging from eight to 11 months now, as a consequence of their own decision to accumulate debts beyond the capacity of the state’s internally generated revenue, whilst the very ‘actors’ Mr. Governor and his deputy continue to enjoy their security allowances in hundreds of millions, is a violation of their oaths of office.

“Their action in this respect is as illegal as it is immoral and unconscionable. It is an evidence of their inability to discharge the functions of their office. There is therefore no legal or moral basis for their continued stay in office.

“To this end and for this reason I am sure other well -meaning and concerned members of the Osun community are hereby calling on honourable members of the state House of Assembly to pick up the gauntlet and redeem themselves by giving effect to the provisions of Sections 128 and 129 of the Constitution, empowering them to investigate and bring to justice, all those who have corruptly enriched themselves at the expense of Osun and her people.”

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