The All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday claimed that it has uncovered an alleged conspiracy between the government and labour leaders to instigate workers into a prolonged strike to prevent Governor Ayo Fayose’s impeachment.
The party said the deal was reportedly struck at a meeting of April 27 with the leadership of the state Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Joint Negotiation Council (JNC).
The APC claimed that the prolonged labour crisis is designed to shut down all government offices to prevent the 19 lawmakers from going ahead with the impeachment against the governor.
However, labour has denied the allegation, describing it as “highly mischievous and illogical”.
A statement by APC’s Publicity Secretary Taiwo Olatubosun said it was “wicked and selfish for labour leaders to secretly negotiate a multi-million naira deal for their pockets while herding their colleagues on partisan protest that is clearly against the service rule”.
The APC said the meeting considered two options, which included a declaration of 10-day holiday from May 29 till early June.
The second option was for the government to pay civil servants half salary, which the labour leaders would reject and thereafter declare an indefinite strike.
Calling on labour leaders not to drag Ekiti workers into politics, the party expressed dismay at their partisan roles in flagrant abuse of labour laws.
The party alleged that labour leaders had abandoned the interests of their members to hobnob with the government.
The APC said it was aware that some labour leaders collected N30 million from the government for various solidarity rallies in the last six months.
It condemned the alleged agreement of some of these labour leaders to instigate innocent workers to a politically-motivated industrial action.
The APC noted that this was exactly the politics behind the strike of the local chapter of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), which paralysed courts across the state.
The party called on workers to remember that there is life after Governor Fayose’s administration, stressing that it is wicked for labour leaders to trade off their future for a mess of pottage that does not guarantee their growth and job security.
State NLC Vice-Chairman Kayode Akosile said: “The allegation is highly mischievous and illogical. Who wants to impeach the governor? Is it the APC in the Diaspora or those in the state?
“There is nothing logical in the allegation, how can somebody be paid or induced to go on strike. Labour leaders can reason very well.
“The governor has been given a mandate to rule for four years, he should be allowed to exercise his mandate so that the people can get dividends of democracy.
“The allegation is mischievous, if workers will go on strike, it will be because they have issues with the government.”