APC slams Fayose for “mocking” workers on strike

Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose

The All Progressives Congress in Ekiti State has accused Governor Ayodele Fayose of mocking workers by declaring a solidarity strike for them.

Public workers in the state are on strike over five months unpaid salaries among other contentious issues.

The APC in a statement by its state Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun, on Sunday said his statement portrayed him as an “unserious leader not prepared for the challenges of governance,” and who had turned a serious business of governance to ‘a moonlight drama’.”

Berating Fayose for mocking the civil servants by declaring strike in solidarity with Ekiti workers, Olatunbosun said his action spoke much about his personality as “a man bereft of finesse to be entrusted with the leadership of the people for development.”

Describing Fayose’s conduct as a height of insensitivity of a callous leader, Olaunbosun said, “Fayose’s self-imposed strike could not have been in solidarity with Ekiti workers, but a mockery of their present suffering caused by him and which he obviously enjoys.

“Fayose’s lies, inhuman and reckless statement on television that he cannot sell his children to pay salary is an acceptance of failure, so he should resign from that position.

“There is starvation in the state over failure to pay salary, which has made workers’ conditions so bad that some of them have resorted to stealing from neighbours before they can eat.

“Thieves are all over the place  carting away foods in the process of cooking in the kitchen, while raw foods and soup ingredients, such as yams, garri, tomatoes, pepper, parcels of ‘eba’ are being stolen by hungry Ekiti people.

“How many Ekiti workers can afford to send their children to any of the secondary schools in Ekiti which Fayose has heavily taxed, let alone sending them to the highbrow schools that Fayose’s children attend abroad? This is very wicked and inhuman.”

Olatunbosun, while accusing Fayose of taking N250m security vote monthly, advised him to emulate other governors facing similar challenges by engaging workers with honesty and frankness needed.”

He added, “Fayose believes in employing lies to deceive Ekiti workers with bloated salary figures and distorted federal allocations and IGR profile.”

Punch Newspaper