By Rotimi Ojomoyela
ADO-EKITI—A section of Workers in Ekiti State, under the aegis of Enlightened Workers Forum (EWF) has lampooned Organized Labour failing to fight for the payment of their outstanding salaries, allowances and entitlements of retirees and defending Governor Ayodele Fayose.

They also faulted the claim of Fayose that he has promoted 15,000 workers and that he was owing them only two months which he had paid, insisting that no worker has received promotion letter since the governor made the announcement. They described organized labour in Ekiti as “a government agency being funded like parastatals.”

Speaking with newsmen yesterday, EWF Coordinator, Mike Bamidele, urged the national leadership of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Joint Negotiating Council (JNC) to visit Ekiti to investigate the purported promotion and payment.

Fayose giving out cakes and cash to residents of Ado-Ekiti for soft drinks

“The presence of Labour could only be felt in the state when the need arises to defend Governor Fayose even to the detriment of workers they had professed to serve, simply because they are the carefully selected boys and girls of Fayose.

“Only few days ago, precisely on the 28th of December, 2016, the so-called leaders, not minding the fact that government had refused to pay workers salaries and as such, they had to go empty handed for Xmas and New Year celebrations came back from a three-day government sponsored retreat at Ikogosi
Warm Spring, where a whopping sum of N50 million was doled out to them.

“It is against this hopeless background therefore that the Enlightened Workers Forum had taken it upon itself to make this clarion call on the president’s of NLC, TUC and JNC to urgently visit Ekiti State on a save our soul mission.”