By Rotimi Ojomoyela

The one and half years  honeymoon between the Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose and organised labour appears to have hit the rocks, as the two are currently at daggers drawn over unpaid salaries and sundry issues. Until, Thursday 26th of May, Governor Fayose enjoyed the confidence and absolute loyalty of the workers. It is not far fetched that the over 51,000 workforce in Ekiti State played a significant role in his resounding victory at the June 21, 2014 governorship poll in the state .

Ayodele Fayose

Indeed, Fayose rode to power on the credentials of being workers’ friendly and Ekiti being a civil service state, the opinion of the workers carries massive weight as to who occupies the governorship seat at Oke-Ori Omi Government House.

Genesis of the crisis

Trouble started on Thursday, 26th of May, when the workers, under the aegis of the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, Trade Union Congress, TUC and Joint Negotiating Council, JNC, declared an indefinite industrial action, after the  expiration of the 24 and 48 hour ultimatums after which windows of negotiations were closed.

All government offices were put under lock and key, as governance was rendered prostrate. Only few of the political appointees were seen doing skeletal work in their offices. The unions had on Tuesday, the 17th of May, first issued a 24 hour ultimatum to Governor Fayose to pay a sum of N512 million being money deducted from December, 2015 salary or face industrial action.

The strike was later shelved due to the nationwide strike declared to protest hikes in fuel price by the federal government. After the suspension of the nationwide strike on Sunday night, the unions after their joint meeting of Tuesday, May 24 issued another 48 hours to the governor on the need to address  some of their sundry demands to avert the crisis, which lapsed on midnight Wednesday

A statement signed by chairmen of TUC, Coms Odunayo Adesoye, NLC, Ade Adesanmi and JNI Secretary , Oladele Blessing , said the strike became the last resort after they had displayed uncommon understanding over the state’s financial status. .

Workers’ demand

The workers’ demands are: the release of the staff audit and verification conducted in April , 2015, disclosure of the monthly internally generated revenue, payment of arrears of salaries pension and gratuities, payment of September 2014 salary to primary school teachers, payment of 2014 and 2015 leave bonuses.

Others include: implementation of promotion  for 2013, 2014, 2015, approval of inter-cadre transfer, remission of10% IGR to local government and stoppage of Joint Allocation Committee’s account, resuscitation of LG staff pension funds and release of running grants to secondary schools and LGs.

The labour leaders said: “Your Excellency Sir, we have remained calm since these days hoping that respite will soon come our way, but hope is becoming a mirage. Besides, there is a limit to endurance”, they said.

Governor Fayose’s reaction

But reacting to the strike in a televised broadcast on Thursday, Fayose said the state was facing a serious financial crises that may not enable it meet up with certain responsibilities immediately. He said workers monthly wage bill is currently over N2 billion whereas federal allocation keep reducing from almost N3 billion to as low as N751 million in April, adding that the workers are privy to the state’s allocation and are active participants in the sharing committee.

“Even before going on their strike, I got to know that many of them no longer go to office while many others were going late, but why I refused to come hard on those involved was that I had no moral justification to do so since I know we were owing them.

“I cannot stop workers from going on strike, we shall be waiting till when they come back, but they must realise that a strike is not the best option. “Even in Government House, we don’t have money to power generators, whereas, I cannot sell myself or members of my family to raise funds,things are that difficult,” Fayose said. The Governor, therefore threatened to invoke the  no-work-no-pay rule, probably to coerce the striking workers to return to their duty posts.

Labour replies

In another statement issued on Sunday being the outcome of an emergency meeting held at the Labour House in Ado-Ekiti on Saturday , the Unions said that : “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”.

They said contrary to common statement by the governor of incorporating 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”.

They disagreed 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, expressing regrets the governor himself had condemned net payment when he came on board and during his election campaigns had dismissed same as a ‘fraud’.

Conflicting figures of Internally Generated Revenue

Another issue that raised the ire of the Organised Labour was the figure of the internally generated revenue (IGR) reeled out by the Governor Fayose. According to them, “the Accountant General had given figures which ranged between only N150m and N200m, except that of N268m for April, the highest so declared by her.

The Governor during the media chat gave N267m for Sept. 2015; N252m for Oct. 2015; N195m for Nov. 2015; and N181m for Dec 2015.  “For Jan, Feb and March, the accruals, according to the governor, were N389m, N381m, and N302million  respectively,” adding: “Labour was embarrassed to hear the monthly IGR read on air by His Excellency.”

Punishment for erring workers

The leadership of the Unions further berated the governor for his planned decision 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, urging the entire workforce to remain in their various houses until otherwise directed by their respective unions.

Those who disregarded the directives of the Union and reported at work on Thursday had a bitter story to tell, as they were beaten up and treated as saboteurs. The picketing was done by a task force set up by the Chairmen of the Nigerian Labour Congress, Comrade Ade Adesanmi, TUC, Comrade Odunayo Adesoye and Joint Negotiating Council.

The rampaging task force, who brandished cudgels , visited the old and new governor’s offices and chased out those on essential services, especially the staff of the protocol unit, those on directorate cadre and staff of the internal revenue service. A leader of the Task Force, Comrade Kingsley Ebong, said those who flouted their order were believed to be benefiting from the system or being used to sabotage the strike.

Face-off with the Head of Service

The organised Labour called on their members to discountenance the threat by the Head of Service , Dr Olugbenga Faseluka ordering senior workers to resume work on Tuesday, 31 of May, or face dire consequences for their actions. The Union viewed the directive as a way of dividing the workers and weaken the strike declared by the Nigerian Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress and Joint Negotiating Council.

The TUC Chairman, said all workers must remain at home pending the time the labour leaders would suspend the strike. “We have told all civil servants that the strike still continue. So, whether you are a junior or senior worker, you are bound to adhere strictly to it. “Contrary to what the Head of Service said, senior civil servants are members of our   unions. Their returning to work depends on the position of the labour unions. Nobody can override us on this,”  he stated.