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Tag: Fayose

  • I’m on strike too, says Fayose

    I’m on strike too, says Fayose

    •Ekiti youth demand Gov’s resignation 

    Can a state governor go on strike apart from the annual leave he is entitled to? Is it constitutional for a state chief executive to embark on an industrial action?

    This is the drama unfolding in Ekiti State where Governor Ayo Fayose has told the people of the state that he is now on an “indefinite strike” in solidarity with civil servants who have been on strike for almost two weeks to protest the non-payment of their five months salaries.

    Government business and academic activities in public schools have been paralysed since May 24 when the labour unions in the state declared an indefinite strike action over the arrears of salaries owed them.

    Fayose in a broadcast monitored on the state television by our correspondent yesterday said his own industrial action was to show that he shared the pains and frustrations of the workers in agitating for their pay.

    But an interest group, Ekiti Youth Vanguard, has called on Fayose to resign if he has no solution to the problems of the workers who he promised to take care of during the 2014 governorship election campaigns.

    The youth group slammed the governor for allegedly sponsoring protests against state workers on Tuesday when drivers unions members took to the streets condemn the two-week-old strike.

    Labour leaders were angered by Fayose’s statement that he won’t sell his family to pay workers, describing the statement as ‘not only insensitive but inflammatory.”

    The governor was explicit that what he has been declaring as amount accruing to the State as internally generated revenue and the N2.6 billion workers’ wage bill were true positions of the state finances.

    “I want to tell workers that I have placed myself on indefinite strike in solidarity with you. I shared your pains , but it was rather unfortunate that a man can’t give what he doesn’t have.”

    The  Ekiti Youth Vanguard in a statement  by its Director of Organisation, Bewaji Damilare, described Fayose as a “dangerously pretentious individual pretending to love the workers but denying them their legitimate salaries and still sponsoring protests to blackmail them for demanding their right from the government”.

    They sympathised with the workers over hard times allegedly imposed on them and urged them to remain resolute and undaunted in theIr demand for their right in the face of  harassment and intimidation by sponsored agents protesting against them on behalf of the governor.

    The group warned  the governor against sponsoring his agents to blackmail the workers, maintaining that such an act is dishonourable.

    It also urged the workers to remain steadfast in the fight for their right as Ekiti people are solidly behind them.

     

  • Fayose urges workers to call off strike

    Fayose urges workers to call off strike

    EKITI State Governor Ayo Fayose has waved an olive branch to striking workers, urging them to suspend their industrial action to allow for dialogue.

    The governor, in a statement yesterday by his Chief Press Secretary, Idowu Adelusi, said salaries for local government workers are ready.

    But he explained that they cannot be paid because civil servants charged with its disbursement are on strike.

    Saying that the issue of irregular payment of workers was not limited to Ekiti, Fayose urged the workers to note that the country was in a recession and that the state depends much on statutory allocations.

    The governor said he had foreseen the situation, making him to be transparent in the handling of the state’s finances.

    He added that his administration had “always put all the cards on the table for labour leaders and others to see”.

    The statement reads: “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 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 term with the reality on the dwindling allocations coming to the state because even  two months allocations can no longer  pay one month salary.”

    The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) yesterday advised Fayose to pay the five months’ salary arrears and other entitlements owed civil servants.

    The students’ body contended that allocations for five months were enough to pay at least two months salaries at a go to give relief to the workers who are on strike for the past one week.

    NANS dissociated itself from the anti-workers protest staged by drivers unions on Tuesday in which members of the Federation of Ekiti State Students Union (FESSU) participated.

    A statement yesterday by NANS Ekiti Axis Chairman, Sina Awopeju, stressed that the workers deserve their pay and entitlements and should not be denied by the government.

    Also yesterday, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti State apologised to government workers for their alleged maltreatment by Fayose

    The apology was one of the resolutions  reached at the State Executive Committee meeting presided over by the Chairman, Chief Williams Sunday  Ajayi in the state capital.

    The Ajayi-led state PDP executive was declared as the authentic and legally recognised committee by the ruling of a Federal High Court, Ado-Ekiti in a ruling delivered by Justice Taiwo Taiwo on May 15.

    The court verdict ordered the executives of the faction loyal to Fayose led by Gboyega Oguntuase to stop parading themselves as such and also ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not to recognize the governor’s faction.

    A communiqué, which was signed by the PDP Publicity Secretary, Dayo Owolabi, sympathised with the workers.

    “The party sympathises with civil servants and we apologise on behalf of the PDP for the misconduct of Mr. Governor and the party promises to advise him to toe the line of reasoning in the circumstance.

    “The party resolves to bring dividends of democracy  to the doorsteps of an average Ekiti person,” it stated.

  • Fayose’s parliamentary aide resigns

    Fayose’s parliamentary aide resigns

    The crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti State has claimed another casualty as the Special Assistant to the Governor on Parliamentary Affairs, Samuel Ajibola, has resigned his appointment.

    Ajibola, in his letter of resignation, said he quit the Ayo Fayose-led administration “on basic developmental issues and the economic situation in the state, which he can no longer pretend over”.

    He had served as state PDP Financial Secretary and was the only PDP member of the House of Assembly before Fayose came to power on October 16, 2014. Ajibola was later joined by six All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers, who defected at Fayose’s swearing in.

    In his letter dated May 28, Ajibola said: “I humbly write this to formally notify you that I am resigning from my position as your S.A on Parliamentary Affairs.

    “Sir, within my personal conviction, I am satisfied that I have in honesty and utmost loyalty served the PDP, the people of EKiti and government in general.

    “Therefore, I am premising my resignation on some basic developmental issues and the economic situation in the state which I  cannot continue to pretend over.

    “My resignation takes off immediately.”

    When pressed to speak further on why he quit the party, the former lawmaker said he got into trouble with Fayose for going to the house of former Governor Segun Oni to celebrate Christmas with the latter last December.

    Ajibola added that his meeting with a party elder, Chief Clement Awoyelu, with the intent to broker peace with a faction led by the former senator did not go down well with the governor, who allegedly accused him of holding meeting with his political opponents.

    He added: “My brother, as SAPA, the governor pay me N220,000 and I am a grassroots politician, which the governor himself knows what it means.

    “Also, I have one of my children serving and two others in the university, How do I cope and my constituency is also of high hope that they have a son in the Fayose cabinet.”

     

  • Fayose: Buhari can’t stop me from travelling

    Fayose: Buhari can’t stop me from travelling

    EKITI State Governor Ayo Fayose has said that President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration lacks the constitutional power to prevent him from travelling out of the country.

    He spoke through his Special Assistant on Public Communication and New Media, Lere Olayinka, over a report that two governors – one from the Southwest and another from the Southsouth – have been banned allegedly on President Muhammadu Buhari’s order.

    The governor stressed that he enjoys constitutional immunity like the President as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution.

    He added that his constant criticisms of Buhari did not amount to a security threat.

    Fayose contended that state governors were not appendages of the President, adding that he could not be cowed by the Federal Government and its agents “as a leading opposition figure in Nigeria”.

    The governor said he was amazed that the “dangerous dimension of compelling a sitting governor that enjoys constitutional immunity like the President to obtain clearance from the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS) before travelling out of Nigeria can ever be contemplated”.

    The Ekiti helmsman said Buhari and his agents should be mindful of the fact that under a Federal system of government, the states and national government both enjoy some autonomy, “with sovereign power formally divided between the national government and the states such that each state retains some degree of control over its internal affairs”.

    He said: “Few days ago, when Governor Ayodele Fayose was reliably informed that President Muhammadu Buhari had directed that he should be banned from travelling outside Nigeria, he simply took the information as mere rumour, concluding that disrespect for the constitution of Nigeria and Buhari’s dictatorship would not be extended to the most ridiculous level of preventing a governor elected just as the president from traveling out of the country.

    “The thinking of Governor Fayose was that even though the Buhari’s presidency was capable of even attempting to prevent those opposed to the President from breathing the air, it must still be sane enough to be conscious of the consequences of placing any Nigerian under travel ban without an order of the court, not to talk of a sitting governor that enjoys constitutional immunity like the President.

    “Therefore, the President of Nigeria cannot lord himself over any state governor and President Buhari and his agents should accept this basic reality and stop behaving as if they own Nigeria in totality.

    “Even ordinary Nigerians do not require clearance from the DSS or any security agency to travel outside Nigeria unless travel restriction is placed by an order of the court, not to talk of state governors that enjoy immunity just like the President and are not under the control of the President.

    “I, therefore, wish to state on behalf of Fayose that as an opposition figure, he cannot be cowed by this pettiness from the presidency. Governor Fayose, by this press conference, is daring President Buhari and his anti-democratic agents to carry out this evil and shameful plot and let us all see how far it will take them.

    “Anytime Fayose wishes to travel out of Nigeria, he will do so in the full glare of the public and we await how he will be prevented from exercising his rights as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution (as amended) as well as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.”

     

  • Buhari can’t stop me from traveling abroad – Fayose

    Buhari can’t stop me from traveling abroad – Fayose

    Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, has declared that President Muhammadu Buhari lacks the constitutional power to prevent him from traveling out of the country anytime he wishes to do so.

    Addressing a press briefing at his office in Ado Ekiti on Monday, the governor stressed that he enjoys constitutional immunity like the President as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution, saying his constant criticisms of Buhari does not amount to a security threat.

    Fayose contended that state governors are not appendages of the President, adding that he cannot be cowed by the Federal Government and its agents “as a leading opposition figure in Nigeria.”

    The governor said he was amazed that the “dangerous dimension of compelling a sitting governor that enjoys constitutional immunity like the President to obtain clearance from the Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS) before traveling out of Nigeria can ever be contemplated.”

    Fayose also reacted through his Special Assistant on Public Communication and New Media, Lere Olayinka, to a story carried by two weekend newspapers that two governors, one from the Southwest and another from the South -south have been slammed with travel ban allegedly on the President’s order.

    He said President Buhari and his agents should be mindful of the fact that under a federal system of government, the states and national government enjoy some autonomy, with sovereign power formally divided between the national government and the states such that each state retains some degree of control over its internal affairs.

    He said: “Few days ago, when Governor Ayodele Fayose was reliably informed that President Muhammadu Buhari had directed that he should be banned from traveling outside Nigeria, he simply took the information as mere rumour, concluding that disrespect for the constitution of Nigeria and Buhari’s dictatorship would not be extended to the most ridiculous level of preventing a governor elected just as the President from traveling out of the country.

    “The thinking of Governor Fayose was that even though the Buhari’s presidency was capable of even attempting to prevent those opposed to the President from breathing the air, it must still be sane enough to be conscious of the consequences of placing any Nigerian under travel ban without an order of the court, not to talk of a sitting governor that enjoys constitutional immunity like the President.”

  • Ekiti labour leaders slam Fayose for ‘feeding public with lies’

    Ekiti labour leaders slam Fayose for ‘feeding public with lies’

    Ekiti State labour leaders have accused Governor Ayo Fayose of feeding the public with lies to whip up sentiment against the workers’ strike.

    In a statement after an emergency meeting yesterday at the Labour House in Egbewa, Ado-Ekiti, they denied being part of a meeting, where money coming from the Federation Account was shared sector-by-sector.

    The statement, which was in response to the governor’s claims during his monthly media chat, was jointly signed by Paul Olayemi of Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), John Adebayo (Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Blessing Oladele (Joint Negotiating Council (JNC).

    It blamed the governor for mentioning just four of the 10 demands presented to him by the unions. According to the workers’ leaders, no solutions were given to even the four.

    They said the governor’s resort to divide and rule to break the strike won’t work since they were resolute to ensure that the five months arrears of salaries are paid.

    They said: “The ongoing strike is not an ego trip or politically-motivated, but about the rights of workers and pensioners who are dying daily out of hunger and frustration”.

    The labour leaders berated the governor for deciding to go on strike too, noting: “This (decision) leaves much to be desired”.

    They said contrary to the statement by the governor that he incorporated representatives of labour unions in the state’s monthly cash allocation meetings, “the meeting is only a briefing and not a cash allocation meeting”.

    “So, the idea of labour leaders sharing monthly cash allocation and the governor approving does not arise. There has never been any advice or suggestion given to government by the organised labour at this forum that has ever been taken,” the statement said.

    They added that there was ever a time they reached accords with government to pay only net salary, which would exclude cooperative deductions, bank loans and union dues.

    The labour leaders expressed regrets that the governor himself had condemned net payment when he came on board.

    They added that Fayose dismissed same as a “fraud” during his election campaigns.

    The organised labour expressed shock over the internally generated revenue (IGR) figures reeled out by the governor, which they said were contrary to that ever declared by the state’s accountant general at any of their meetings.

    According to them, while the accountant general gave figures, which ranged between only N150 million and N200 million, except that of N268 million for April, the governor during his media chat gave N267 million for September 2015; N252 million for October 2015; N195 million for November 2015; and N181 million for December 2015.

    They added that the governor said for January, February and March, the accruals were N389 million, N381 million and N302 million.

    “Labour was embarrassed to hear the monthly IGR read on air by his excellency,” the statement said.

    The leadership of the unions berated the governor for planning to pay only the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU), a section of workers in the state, which had decided to pull out of the ongoing strike action.

    They urged workers to remain in their houses until otherwise directed by their unions.

    Their words: “On the issue of outstanding salary, it is common knowledge that workers have performed their duties efficiently and effectively for the period of January to May 2016 and hence, they deserve their pay without further delay.

    “Therefore, contrary to government’s decision to pay the sector that opted out of the struggle is tantamount to divide and rule tactics usually employed by government in situations like this.

    “It should be noted that labour has neither suspended nor call off the ongoing industrial action. Hence, we are using this medium to implore the workers to stay at home and observe the strike action until the leadership of organised labour gives further directives.”

  • Fayose moves to break workers’ strike

    Fayose moves to break workers’ strike

    •Offers to pay those who resume

    Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose has moved to halt the strike action embarked upon by workers in the state.

    The industrial action, which entered its fourth day, has paralysed government businesses and academic activities in public schools.

    Apparently embarrassed by the Labour unions’ decision to go ahead with the strike, Fayose offered to pay workers that pull out of the action.

    Speaking during his monthly media chat, Meet Your Governor on Friday evening monitored by our correspondent, Fayose stressed his readiness to pay workers of ministries, agencies and parastatals who opt out of strike and resume work from the N752 million received as allocation for April.

    Apparently oblivious of the fact that Monday is a public holiday, the governor ordered the Accountant General to ensure payment of agencies ready to pull out of the strike and resume work.

    The governor said: “Those that are ready to work, I will pay them from the N752 million we have received this month. EKSU is not on strike and JOHESU in EKSUTH have just written that they are not on strike.

    “I will pay them and others who are ready to work but for those who say they are on strike, even if they are on strike for two months, they will meet me here whenever they decide to end their strike.”

    Fayose said he took an exception to the remarks of Labour leaders against his person and office.

    He scolded them for not challenging the immediate past administration for allegedly committing the state to indebtedness through bonds.

    While expressing his concern and sympathy for workers over the inability of his administration to pay them as and when due, Fayose said he should not be blamed for the situation but the dwindling allocation from the Federation Account.

    But former Speaker Olufemi Bamisile advised Fayose to resign from office over the failure of his government to pay workers their salaries.

    Bamisile, who said the strike embarked upon by workers is already taking its toll on the state, claimed at least four lives have died at the emergency ward of Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH).

    The former Speaker said he visited the ward on Friday to see the situation for himself.

    He argued that Fayose has failed Ekiti people and reneged on his electoral promises.

    Bamisile said: “Fayose has no business being in office again because he has failed the people of Ekiti State.

    “He promised them heaven and earth in the run-up to the 2014 governorship poll but he has failed to redeem his promises.

    “His administration has inflicted unprecedented hardship on the people of Ekiti State.

    “He promised to fill their stomachs with food but instead hunger is afflicting our people.”

  • APC will not rule Rivers again, says Fayose

    Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose has boasted that the All Progressives Congress (APC) will not rule Rivers State again.

    The Ekiti controversial governor was among the guests that witnessed the project unveiling by Governor Nyesom Wike as one of the activities marking his one year in office.

    Speaking during commissioning of Bishop Okonye roads completed by Governor Wike’s administration, Governor Fayose said those squandering Rivers money are gone, stressing that Governor Wike has  enough energy which he said he (Governor Wike) is using to deliver on his promises.

    However, Governor Wike yesterday commissioned Eliozu-Rumuduru Oru-Igwe roads, Eneka-Rumukpokwu road, Bishop Okonye road, Azikiwe road, Mandela road and Rumuaholu.

    Addressing the residents and traders at Bishop Okonye road, a popular market road in Port Harcourt, governor Wike said will never tolerate any road trading at the street.

  • Fayose and the herdsmen

    Fayose and the herdsmen

    From Agatu in Benue State to Nimbo community in Enugu State, the actions of AK-47-wielding herdsmen continue to provoke outrage. Just when you think you have seen the worst, reports emerge of another attack on defenceless villagers.

    Last weekend reports came of an attack by the herdsmen on an Ekiti State community which left two persons dead and many others injured. Those who survived the violence simply fled their homes and it’s not certain if they have returned.

    After the angry reactions that followed the Nimbo killings, President Buhari ordered security agencies to go after the killers and bring them to book. But the seeming inability of the Federal Government and its agencies to stamp out the trend is complicating the fragile security situation in the country.

    Into the void all sorts of opportunists are jumping in with unhelpful and ill-digested interventions. Take the example of the excitable Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose.

    Reacting to the deaths in Ekiti he declared: “On no account should anybody come to sack our communities again, rise up against them. Before any herdsmen kill you, kill them, before they rape your wives, kill them, and before they rape your children kill them.

    “I am giving you this order before they kill you kill them. You have to defend yourselves. Before they get you, you must get them down and take them out. You should pursue them, go and search for them inside the forest. Anyone who comes to take your life, you must take them out.

    “We will not leave our lands for Fulani herdsmen and in a system where the leadership of the country looks the other way while our people are being killed, we will have no option than to defend ourselves,” he added.

    Some people have been quick to praise Fayose for these inflammatory comments arguing that he acted because Buhari failed to do so.

    It would be naïve to think that people who cannot get help from government to defend their lands and lives, would sit idly by and be killed like chicken by faceless, roaming bands of killers. At some point they are going to resort to self help and defend themselves.

    However, a person in Fayose’s position should not be seen to be inciting people to kill no matter the justification. Compare his reaction to that of Enugu State Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.

    Such gubernatorial outbursts and decrees are open to liberal interpretation by those who receive them.

    When people begin to implement the governor’s directive to the letter there would be repercussions far beyond the borders of Ekiti State. Obviously, he didn’t consider that because the sun rises in Ado-Ekiti and sets in Ikole-Ekiti.

    Rather than inciting our people to indiscriminate killings, we should raise our voices until we get an appropriate response from Buhari and the responsible agencies.

    Many political leaders have landed in the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague for trial when ethnic conflict consumed their countries. They went on trial not because they pulled the trigger, but because their inflammatory comments and speeches were considered the remote control that set off the killing sprees.

    Ask President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto of Kenya; ask Ratko Mladic, Slobodan Milosevic and Radovan Karadzic of the former Yugoslavia.

    But I doubt if Fayose would care because that would interfere with his juvenile need to be noticed as the noisiest kid on the block.

  • Kashamu Buruji, Fayose at daggers drawn

    After years of hobnobbing, things have fallen apart between Governor Ayodele Fayose and his erstwhile friend, Senator Buruji Kashamu. The two socialites turned politicians were close friends until recently. As a matter of fact, Kashamu was rumoured as one of the financiers of Fayose’s governorship campaign a few years ago.

    Those who should know even said that during the campaign period,   once Fayose had said his prayers in the morning, Kashamu was always the next he praised and thanked. But things have changed and the two are currently at daggers drawn over who between them should be the leader of the PDP in the South West. In Senator Kashamu’s recent interview with news men where he spoke about Governor Fayose and Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko, he said: ”Both Ekiti State governor, Mr. Ayo Fayose and Dr. Segun Mimiko of Ondo State really disappointed well-meaning leaders and members of the party. It is rather unfortunate that Governor Mimiko allowed himself to be railroaded into Fayose’s den of infamy.”

    Kashamu argued that his erstwhile friend cannot justify his sudden claim to political sagacity. He further tried to make his point by calling Fayose an empty vessel that makes the loudest noise. Although there are no true friends in politics, it is quite shocking to see these once jolly good friends ruin their relationship in the battle for power.