There are few Nigerian politicians who enjoy attention as much as Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti state.
The Governor is always in the news for different reasons, some bordering on the inane and others controversial.
From stopping to enjoy a plate of beans by the road side:
to lambasting President Muhammadu Buhari:
and admiring questionable ‘pears’:
There’s
no gain saying that the loquacious governor is a one man opposition
party, doing more damage than all the opposition parties in Nigeria
combined -including his crisis ridden party, the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP).
Fayose, somehow, finds himself into every news story within the country – from the PDP crisis, Fulani herdsmen attack, economic downturn, to President Buhari’s administration.
But while Fayose enjoys his plate of beans and causing discomfort to
the federal government, we must remember -and remind him- that he is no
different from all of Nigeria’s politicians, both past and present, and
the federal government whom he criticises so passionately.
For the past five months, civil servants working for the Ekiti state government are yet to receive their monthly salary.
Faced with worsening economic difficulties and an explosive increase
in the cost of living, the people of Ekiti have had to trudge through
the last few months, trying to make ends meet and hoping that they will
be paid soon.
Mercifully, salaries for December 2015 was paid to the state workers
in March this year but not without deductions for dues paid to trade
unions and others -for which the NLC and TUC are reportedly vexed.
As a last option, workers in the state have embarked on an industrial action pending when salaries are paid to them.
In his defense, Fayose said that Ekiti state received only N751
million as allocation from the federation account for the month of April
as against N1.3 billion received in March.
He said “I know workers have not been coming to work, but I don’t
have the moral right to stop them. But I can only deploy what I receive
from the federation account. If workers want to go on strike, I
sympathise with them, but we will be here waiting till when they come
back. I can’t sell myself to pay workers. Even the government house
where I live does not have diesel to power generator at times.”
Culled from Ynaija!