Over 20,000 private sector workers in
Ekiti State, under the aegis of Conference of Ekiti Private Sector
Unions COEPSU, trooped out in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital Friday,
July 8, 2016, to express their solidarity and support for Governor
Ayodele Fayose over his recent travails with the Buhari-led federal
government.
The workers decried the the use of agencies of the federal government to harass and intimidate Fayose.
COEPSU said that politicians in Ekiti
should imbibe the spirit of sportsmanship such that “the moment election
is conducted and winner emerges, the loser should support the winner in
the overall
interest of the State and its people.”
interest of the State and its people.”
COEPSU is the amalgamation of all
private sector unions in the State, comprising of drivers unions (NURTW,
RTEAN, COOP), tailors, caterers, hunters, tipper owners, musicians,
theatre practitioners, beer sellers, artisans, okada riders, saw
millers, timber merchants, bricklayers, technicians, independent
broadcasters, medicine sellers among others.
Lanre Agbede, COEPSU secretary, while
addressing the press a few hours before the inauguration said “the
workers are miffed by what is being witnessed in the state today, in
which the party that was openly rejected by the people has persistently
waged war against the person elected by Ekiti State.”
Agbede, who was flanked by the union’s
chairperson, Clement Adekola and all the members of its executive body,
said the coming together of the workers was meant to foster unity and
peaceful coexistence among themselves in particular and Ekiti people in
general, as well as collectively defend the rights of our members and
that of the state government.
“It is to the glory of God and that of
Governor Ayodele Fayose that members of over 40 private sector unions in
Ekiti State have now come together as Conference of Ekiti Private
Sector Unions,” the statement said.
“Our coming together is meant to foster
unity and peaceful coexistence among ourselves in particular and Ekiti
people in general, as well as collectively defend the rights of our
members and that of the state government.
“It is our belief that there should be
stability in our polity and our coming together will no doubt foster the
much needed stability.
“As we are coming together to foster
peace in Ekiti State, it is our belief that politicians in the State
should also imbibe the spirit of sportsmanship. The moment election is
conducted and winner emerges, the loser should support the winner in the
overall interest of the state and its people.
“We are miffed by what is being
witnessed in the state today, in which the party that was openly
rejected by the people has persistently waged war against the person
elected by Ekiti State.
“Most importantly, we are not unmindful
of the use of the federal government apparatus against the government of
Ekiti State, and we wish to state that under a federal system of
government that is being practiced in Nigeria, the federal government
should not bully any state government under whatever guise.
“It is our view that in every election,
the choice remains that of the people and Ekiti people made their choice
on June 21, 2014 and that choice must be respected. Those who have
formed the habit of causing political instability in Ekiti State
whenever they lose elections are hereby warned to desist from
collaborating with external forces to cause crisis in the state. They
should be mindful of the fact that we are in 2016, and not 2006 when
impeachment notices of governors were signed in EFCC office.
“Even though we support ridding Nigeria
of corruption, especially in the public service, it is our opinion that
there should be no two laws in Nigeria. In its fight against corruption,
attention of the federal government must be on all Nigerians
irrespective of their political parties and anti-corruption agencies of
the federal government must operate within the ambit of the laws.
“A situation where the bank accounts of
our governor will be frozen by the EFCC despite that he enjoys absolute
immunity is not acceptable to us and we condemn it totally.
“We also demand that all petitions to
the EFCC and ICPC on the mismanagement of Ekiti State by the previous
government must be investigated and those found to have looted Ekiti
treasury must be prosecuted and their loots returned to the state.
“In our view, recovery of money looted
from Ekiti treasury is more important to the people of Ekiti State than
fund used for the election of anyone and EFCC will do Ekiti and its
people a lot of good if it focus its attention more on funds looted from
the State.
“We salute the courage of members of the
Ekiti State House of Assembly. The present members of the House of
Assembly have demonstrated their love and commitment for the peace and
political stability of Ekiti State and we commend them.
“We also commend the labour unions in
the State for submitting to reasons and calling off the industrial
action embarked upon over the non-payment of salary. We are happy that
the labour unions accepted that non-payment of workers salary is not the
fault of the state governor and it is hoped the federal government will
focus its attention on the economy of the country that is almost
collapsing.
“It is evident that Governor Fayose has
made tremendous strides in the area of infrastructural developments and
we are confident that the governor will do more for the State as he did
during his first tenure. We, therefore support his government and make
bold to say that we will continue to protect the government from
external aggressors.
“As we unfold our coming together today,
we wish to state that in the interest of Ekiti people, who
overwhelmingly elected the governor of their choice on June 210, 2014,
we will remain undaunted in our unflinching support for our governor,
Mr. Ayodele Fayose.
“Freedom of thought and expression is
guaranteed by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and
in exercising this right, Governor Fayose won’t be intimidated by any
agency of the federal government.
“To those who lost election in June
2014, they should stop trying to get to power through the backdoor. They
should stop this harassment, intimidation and use of federal power to
oppress the custodian of the mandate of Ekiti people.
“Lastly, we congratulate our members for
this coming together of all the private sector unions in our State and
we are confident that this coming together will be the beginning of
peaceful coexistence of Ekiti
people.”
people.”
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