DIPLOMAN TIMES

The Ogun State Government has cleared ₦3.503 billion in outstanding severance allowances owed to former political office-holders who served across the state's 20 local government councils and Local Council Development Areas between 2016 and 2024. The payment covers 1,042 former officials from two tenure periods and was presented by the administration as settlement of legitimate inherited liabilities following verification and reconciliation by relevant state and local government institutions. Beneficiaries who received the payments described the development as a significant fulfilment of an outstanding obligation.

According to the Ogun State government publication, former political office-holders from the state's 20 local government councils and Local Council Development Areas have received a total of ₦3,503,489,479.56 in outstanding severance allowances. The beneficiaries served between 2016 and 2024 and include former chairmen, vice-chairmen, secretaries to local governments, supervisors, special advisers and councillors. The settlement therefore covers a broad group of former grassroots political office-holders whose entitlements had remained outstanding across two separate tenure periods.

The payment was formally presented at the Oba's Complex in Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, where beneficiaries welcomed the settlement and described it as an indication of the state government's commitment to good governance and the welfare of former political office-holders. The government said the liabilities covered 526 beneficiaries from the 2016–2019 tenure and another 516 from the 2020–2024 tenure, bringing the total number of former officials covered by the settlement to 1,042. The scale of the payment makes the intervention both a local-government personnel issue and a significant public-finance settlement.

The Ogun State government publication said the administration's decision followed verification and reconciliation undertaken by the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, the State Audit Department and the Local Government Service Commission. Verified beneficiaries were paid through their bank accounts, while individuals who had not received payment alerts because of account-related problems were directed to approach the ministry with the relevant documentation. The verification process provides the administrative basis identified by the government for determining the beneficiaries and amounts payable before the settlement was effected.

Beneficiaries who spoke at the presentation commended the administration and the officials involved in the reconciliation and payment process. Hon. Okunade Adebayo and Hon. Abosede Balogun said the settlement demonstrated that their contributions to grassroots development had not been forgotten and described the process as seamless, transparent and orderly. Hon. Emiola Ghazal, a former Chairman of Ijebu Ode Local Government, described the settlement as unprecedented in the state and said the decision had strengthened confidence among beneficiaries and grassroots stakeholders. He also suggested that the development could have political implications for the All Progressives Congress ahead of the 2027 general elections.

As of October 7, 2026, the Ogun State government publication records the ₦3,503,489,479.56 settlement as a completed payment exercise covering 1,042 former local government political office-holders from the 2016–2019 and 2020–2024 periods. The administration characterised the payment as settlement of legitimate inherited liabilities, while beneficiaries acknowledged receipt and urged continued attention to the welfare of workers and stakeholders. The outstanding-account cases identified in the publication relate only to beneficiaries whose payment alerts had not been received because of account-related issues and who were instructed to provide documentation for resolution.