Politics

Fayose soft pedals, begs Ekiti workers to call off strike

Published

8 years ago

June 1, 2016

FG plans to use EFCC in plot to impeach me, Fayose alleges

The governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, may have soft pedaled his hard stance on the ongoing strikes action embarked upon by workers in the state, as he Wednesday, called on them to call off their strike and negotiate with government.

According to the governor, the salaries for local government workers were ready for payment, with limited additional funds available for sharing.

He however said, nothing could be done because civil servants who are on strike had critical roles to play in the disbursement of the funds.

Fayose stated this in Ado Ekiti through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Idowu Adelusi.

The governor also expressed sympathy with the striking workers and the inconveniences the current financial situation in the country was causing them, warning however that the financial condition of the country might not get better soon.

The governor, who claimed he had foreseen the current situation, said it was the same reason that made him to be transparent in the handling of finances of the state.

He said: “I have not hidden anything from the labour leaders and what our dear state is experiencing now has been aggravated by th‎e mindless borrowings of the immediate past administration in the state.

“The state is paying about N1bn monthly to service the bond and the commercial loans they took. If that did not happen, we would have had such money to add to our monthly allocations.

“During my first term in office, I was paying salaries regularly and on the 22nd of every month and workers never went on strike. I sympathise with the workers and regret the inconveniences the current financial situation in the country is causing them.

“The situation is not limited to Ekiti State, as the country is on a recession. All these I have foreseen that made me open the finances of the state to all and run an all inclusive financial management.

“Regrettably, it is difficult to give what you don’t have. It is in the interest of the state that the workers need to come to terms with the reality on the dwindling allocations coming to the state because even two months allocations can no longer pay one month salary.

“I implore workers and their leaders to note that even the recent nationwide strike called over fuel price increase was called off for the two sides to go into negotiation and dialogue.”

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