The governor of Osun state, Ademola Adeleke, has clarified the appointment of Oyetunji Rasak Abefe as the Special Senior Assistant on Government House Pool, following the recent media mockery that greeted the portfolio.
In a statement from his media office signed by his spokesperson, Mallam Olawale Rasheed, the governor said the portfolio was not created out of frivolity, clarifying that the appointee will be in charge of official government vehicles, not swimming pools.
Rasheed said, “The Government House Pool is a term referring to the transport unit of Government House. The section deals with drivers and vehicles within Government House. The office, a creation of the previous governments of the All Progressive Congress (APC), has been in existence for the past twelve or so years.
“Members of the public are aware that there are hundreds of drivers and vehicles (both old and new) in the Government House. In the interest of sustainable management of those assets, an SSA is appointed to coordinate and even oversee activities and operations in that sector.
“We also wish to note and clarify another misrepresentation on the appointment of an SSA for Oranmiyan town. Again, the previous APC government created a diaspora estate program involving a new settlement named Oranmiyan New Town. There is actually a new town development body. The newly appointed SSA is charged with ensuring the achievement of government goals in those areas, especially the protection of the investment of Diasporans.
“The two appointments are therefore necessary and required. They were never frivolous jobs for the boys, as some partisan critics have termed them. While those offices were inherited, it is also worthy of note to state that Governor Adeleke has demonstrated a strong will to retain what is good and jettison what is bad.
“In the two cases under consideration, the two offices are necessary to protect and effectively manage public and private assets.”
Mr. Abefe was appointed on August 7, according to an appointment letter that circulated on social media on Friday, sparking an online frenzy by many who thought the pool in Government House Pool was referring to a swimming pool.
