Date Published: 07/25/11

Sack of 5,000 LG workers: Fayemi's govt is confused - Group

A Non Governmental Organisation in Ekiti State, the Ekiti Justice Group (EJG) has described the Dr Kayode Fayemi-led Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) government in the State as a government of confusion, saying; "When functionaries of government sing discordant tunes on matters of grave importance, sane minds should begin to prepare for a state of anarchy."

In a statement issued by its National Coordinator, Dr Tunji Oluwasanmi, EJG described claim by Fayemi that no worker was sacked in the State as "a lie from the mouth of a wicked and confused governor" asking that; "Between the Chairman of the State Local Government Service Commission, Chief Aderemi Ajayi, whose office is in charge of recruitment, promotion, dismissal, retrenchment or retirement of council workers and Fayemi's information commissioner, Funminiyi Afuye, whose position should be more credible on sack of Local Government workers?"

Chief Aderemi was quoted by journalists in their reports in the newspapers on Monday to have confirmed the sack' saying that "names of the affected workers had been removed from the July 2011 salary vouchers of their various councils."

"The list of the sack workers were compiled by a committee set up by the state government and the committee has directed all the local governments in the state to paste the names of the affected workers on their respective notice boards,” chairman of the Local Government Commission had said.

However, in Fayemi's desperate bid to cover-up the wicked act, he directed his information commissioner to lie to the public that “There is no iota of truth in the media report that this administration has sacked 5,000 workers. No letter of termination has been issued to anybody. What is pasted on the notice board is for the affected workers to come to verify their status.”

EJG said; "From the above contradicting statements, it can be deduced that Fayemi and his men are confused and in that state of confusion have been incoherent in the defence of their wickedness to Ekiti people.

"However, no matter how sophisticated Fayemi and his men are in their business of falsehood, those who have been denied their daily bread since he (Fayemi) became governor do not need media propaganda to establish whether or not they have been sacked!

"As at today in Fayemi's Ekiti, it is not only government workers that are being deprieved of their sources of livelihood, traders and artisans are not left out. Their business premises are already being destroyed by Fayemi's bulldozers in the name of urban renewal and beatification, which only entails planting of flowers and trees.

"On this white elephant project, which is already rendering people homeless and depriving many of their sources of livelihood, N2 billion is to be spent.

"Our question is, what comes first in a society where poverty is king? Beatification or improvement of peoples' standard of living through provision of gainful employment?"