Fayose’s Promotion of 15,000 Workers a Grand Deception, Says APC
Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has debunked claims by Governor Ayodele Fayose that he has promoted 15,000 workers in the state civil service as part of the end of the year package for civil servants.
It also debunked the claim by the governor that workers were paid two months salaries, Christmas bonus and other allowances.
In the last few days, news was all over the media space that Fayose had paid two months salaries and Christmas bonus, including promotion of 15,000 workers and implementation of promotion arrears approved few years back as part of welfare scheme for workers.
But the APC dismissed the reports as a ruse, saying that no single worker was promoted “as at the time of writing this press release”.
In a statement by the Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun, the party said it had been discovered that the governor was “just trying to be himself as an unconscionable liar” in his promotion and two months salary payment claims.
He explained: “As at the time of writing this press release, no single worker has received any letter of promotion.
“At best, what the governor has done is a promise of promotion to the Labour leaders he assembled at the dilapidated Ikogosi Resort where he begged them to help him mobilise workers to vote for his candidate in the 2018 governorship election with the promise of mass promotion for workers.
“The promise followed similar other one during his governorship campaigns when he asked Ekiti youths to submit their credentials to his campaign office for immediate mass employment if they voted for him.
“But after winning the election, the credentials of the youth found their way to groundnut and roasted plantain sellers, and up till now, none of them has been employed.”
Olatunbosun added that investigations from Ekiti State Civil Service indicated that no single promotion letter had been issued from the office elevating any worker.
He also debunked reports that Ekiti workers were paid two months salaries, explaining that what the governor did was his usual alleged fraudulent practice to confuse and deceive the people.
He explained: “Fayose never paid two months salaries. What he did was that he paid just one salary for two different months.
“For instance, he paid December salary to a set of workers while he paid July salary to another set, making it just one month salary to all the workers so far paid, but the governor has been fraudulently claiming that he had paid two months salaries.”
Olatunbosun added that what Fayose did was to gamble with the workers again to exploit them and deceive the public for favour in the next governorship
election, noting that the governor’s anti-worker policy did not support his present pro-worker stance.
He explained: “On assumption of office, Fayose cancelled all the promotions approved by former Governor Kayode Fayemi, while he also reversed the appointments of nine permanent secretaries made by Fayemi, some of whom had since retired in frustration.
“Morale is at its lowest in the top echelon of the civil service, as permanent secretaries are no longer appointed on merit but through balloting system that is fraught with fraud whereby the least qualified candidates, who are the governor’s cronies, may be appointed while against service rule, Fayose has stopped Executive Secretaries from being appointed permanent secretaries.
“Besides, we have witnessed mass sack of workers while salaries and running grants of some categories of workers have been reduced in several government’s institutions, including those in the Ekiti State University, while the governor increased his own monthly security vote to N250m.
“Labour union leaders are regularly victimised and harassed, even as morale is at present at the lowest among the work force while Fayose has also cancelled all local and overseas capacity development training programmes.”
