Communications Minister Shittu Owns 25 Cars, 12 Luxury Homes, N93m Printing Press —Aide

Victor Oluwadamilare, Special Assistant Media to Mr. Adebayo Shittu, Minister of Communications, has claimed that the Minister owns no fewer than 12 luxury houses in Abuja, Lagos, and Ibadan.

He also claimed that a few months ago, the minister bought a brand new N93 million printing press and that he has over 25 luxury vehicles.

Mr. Olwuadamilare made the allegations in a letter to the minister dated 12 March and exclusively obtained by SaharaReporters.

Olwuadamilare’s anger at the revelation stems from the allegation that the Minister owes him the sum of N13million in emoluments from November 2015 to the end of March 2018.

Yet, despite Mr. Shittu ’s refusal to pay, said Oluwadamilare, the minister has been living a lush life.

According to the spokesman, Mr. Shittu acquired all these properties within a space of 29 months in office as he never had them before.

He stated that some of the properties were bought for his family members, concubines, and cronies, despite having eight official vehicles attached to your office.

The aide equally stated that the minister has spent way beyond his legitimate earnings on his gubernatorial ambition in Oyo State.

He also claimed that Shittu had sponsored no fewer than 22 members of his family and cronies, including under-aged children, on Muslim pilgrimages in Saudi Arabia.

“Of course, everyone in Oyo State knows about your investments that run into hundreds of millions of naira in your less than three years in the office. These are currently scattered all over Oyo State,” said Mr. Oluwadamilare.

He equally stated that since Mr. Shittu’s inauguration as a minister, he has collected over N50 million in salaries, travel expenses running into several millions of naira and estacode more than $800,000.

The aide said he wrote to the minister on behalf of himself and his colleague, Mr. Tajudeen Imam, whom Mr. Shittu appointed Special Assistant (Special Duties) 25 months ago.

Excerpts from the letter read:

“I was forced to mention the issue of non-payment of my emoluments to a number of your friends and close associates, who promised to talk to you on the imperative of paying the emoluments of your aides. Indeed, I got several feedbacks on your promise to address the issue, but, after many months nothing happened.”

“I recruited and enlisted the support of seasoned journalists and experienced media managers, to coordinate and chart a media plan for your political ambition, ahead of your other competitors. I was the Chairman and convener, for which I spent my personal resources. Some of the members are Dele Ogunsola, Wale Adele, Bola Ogunlayi, Tawfiq Akinwale, Marouf Yusuf, Femi Popoola and Winlade Adisa.”

“In summary, the total emoluments due to me as a duly appointed Special Assistant amounted to N252, 300. 41 per month. This is inclusive of two Domestic Servants, who are expected to be on Level 3 step 8, according to a Consolidated Public Service Salary Structure (CONPSS), prepared by the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission.”

“For close to one year now, there has been an unresolved feud with my wife because of my inability to effectively fulfill my marital responsibilities and family upkeep. My first daughter, from all indications, may not be able to enlist in the NYSC Scheme in April 2018 because of my failure to adequately fund her education. My second daughter had lost one calendar year in the university because of my inability to pay her school fees and other incidentals as at when due. My other children of school age, have been traumatized and discouraged in their educational pursuit because of the irregularity in the payment of their school fees, with its attendant backslash.”

“The hope of working with you to properly project you and Oyo State at the Federal Executive Council that came with nostalgic feelings has been dashed. You did not only mess us up by dashing our hopes and aspirations, but you also inflicted on us injuries that are of permanent nature and of odious dimension. You bruised our psyche, you rubbished our ego, you wasted our time, you exposed us to hardship, you almost destroyed our humanity, you reduced our worth before our wives, children, and acquaintances and above all, if not for God, you almost turned us to beggars in Abuja.”

“To all intents and purposes, my demand for N500,000 monthly payments may seem incongruent to the provisions of the Consolidated Public Service Salary Structure (CONPSS) and the Federal Government Circular, but it subsists when one considers the following: Your body language and subsequent reactions showed that you have a clandestine motive to deny us our entitlements, the letter written to me by your former Special Assistant (Admin), Mr. David A. Awotunde, titled: Payment of Monthly Emolument to Honourable Minister’s Aides and dated 10th June, 2016 is quite instructive.”

“While you have been living in sudden and extremely outrageous opulence as a public servant at the expense of your dutiful and hardworking aides, you seemingly forget your pitiable socio-economic status and experience in Oyo State before you got this job, as you have all of a sudden become insulated to common sense, justice and fairness, the mantra on which many people sheepishly believed in you in your struggling days–including myself.

“It is quite bewildering that the fact that you collect your salary every month and regularly does not strike any right cord in you that your aides too deserve a better life by way of their own legitimate emoluments,” the aide wrote.

Efforts by ElombahNews to obtain a response from the Minister of Communications was unfruitful as the number was not going through.