The All Progressives Congress in Ekiti State has slammed Governor Ayodele Fayose for refusal to pay workers their November and December salaries.
It said such is a deliberate insensitivity to the yearnings of workers to enjoy the end-of-year festivities with their families.
The party said it was ungodly for a leader to enjoy all the bliss that goes with Christmas while denying the people he leads their entitlements at the time members of their families look up to them for the yearly pleasure of the season.
But Fayose maintained on Thursday that he had paid workers their December salary, urging the APC to always cross-check its facts.
In a statement by its State Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatubosun, the APC recalled that December 18 last year, all workers had received their salaries and Christmas bonus in addition to their leave bonus while pensioners were also paid.
He claimed that the governor grudgingly asked the banks to pay workers half of their salary on the night of December 24 after bitter complaints from workers.
“It is evil for a leader to deduct N2,000 from the salary of each worker for the purpose of buying them Christmas gifts only to give not up to half of the workers a chicken smaller than a pigeon worth less than N800.
“It is callous to take convention funds for the delegates of your party members on the guise that you are spending it for Christmas gift only for you to keep more than half of that money in your private pocket while your party members go hungry during this festive period,” Olatubosun said.
The APC said the Ekiti people were suffering under Fayose with insecurity of life and property.
Olatubosun urged NAFDAC to conduct investigation into the suitability of the chickens the governor gave out to workers for consumption, noting that rearing seven-month-old chickens for consumption is cruelty against animals.
The APC spokesman said, instead of giving Ekiti youths promising future, the governor had turned them to an army of beggars and hangers-on. He added that while the governor did not have any youth empowerment scheme to create jobs for Ekiti youths, he had been using his personal mechanics from his Ibadan base to work on government serviceable vehicles in the Government House vehicles pool.
Reacting, Fayose’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr Idowu Adelusi, who refuted the allegation, said the APC as an opposition should not be lazy in extracting facts from the government, saying the salaries of workers had been paid.
He said, “The APC shouldn’t be a fool in reacting to issues. They should not be lazy in getting to the roots of any matter because everybody is aware that salaries of workers had been paid .
“Ayo Fayose is a sensitive and responsive Governor , who has started distributing Christmas gifts to all categories of people since Monday. So it sounds so unfathomable that a Governor that could do that would now abandon the workers, who are critical to this government.” Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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Salary why? After all they received chicken and maggi
ReplyDeleteThis is irresponsible reporting! Were workers paid or were they paid half?
ReplyDelete