This was contained in a release personally signed on August 9th in Osogbo by the party’s Director, Media and Publicity, Mr Taofik Alabi. According to the release, “The Osun State governor last two weeks summoned the labour leaders in the state comprising the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the Joint Negotiating Council (JNC) to a meeting, discussing the way out of the settlement of the over one year salaries arrears owed the state workers. At the meeting, it was discovered that the governor had already prepared a document in form of MoU to be signed by the labour without taking any recourse to their input in reaching such a memorandum. “The memorandum of understanding contained a proposal to the state labour to forfeit their 14 month unpaid salaries, allowances and leave bonuses of 2014, 2015, 2016 and part of 2013. To the consternation of the labour, the document was a force that must be complied with without any opinion. It was learnt that the labour, which were not privy to go through the document as gathered, quickly turned it down when the governor received a call which diverted his attention and subsequently allowed the labour leaders to swiftly read through the papers and saw the ungodly intentions compressed in the MoU. “Our innersource informed us that the union leaders immediately told the governor categorically that they could not append their signatures on such memo, a situation that allegedly let the governor wise-coined them to accept dismissal of some state workers that have not been regularized due to some discrepancies found in their certificates at the workers audit carried out by the state government”. Understanding that whether they forfeit the said arrears or not, according to Alabi, the government has already concluded plans to dismiss those workers before the end of this year, and the labour as it was gathered stormed out of the venue of the meeting and were intimidated on their way out by the governor himself, who was said shouting at the top of his voice that nothing on earth would make him pay those arrears. The Party’s Director, Media and Publicity recalled that sometime towards the end of 2015, the federal government released a huge sum of 34.9 billion naira to Osun State government as bailout to settle the unpaid salaries of ten months of the state workers without investigating the cause of the quagmire born out of the governor’s financial recklessness. The statement reads in part: “The state labour went into an agreement with the state government, spelling out how the bailouts will the applied. The Memorandum of Understanding contained that the workers will be paid up till May, 2015, which was just 5 months out of the 10 months owed and that the remaining leave bonuses for the year 2013 and the whole of 2014 will be settled in November, 2015, while the remaining salaries will be met according to the financial box of the state. “Not only that the substantial part of the MoU was jettisoned by the governor, he also went ahead completely without further discussions with the state labour to implement payment of half salaries to the workers from grade level 8 upward, while those on 13 upward salaries were fractioned at the governor’s volition. “We learnt that the state workers began to question the integrity of the labour leaders due to their quietness over the unscrupulous execution of the MoU by the governor. Some even asked the NLC chairman to call a congress and give detailed accounts of his stewardship in the last few months he took over leadership from comrade Saka Adesiyan in an election regarded as being sponsored and rigged by the state government for the incumbent chairman, comrade Jacob Adekomi. And up till this moment, the state labour has not held a single congress. “Dangerously, the JNC chairman, Mr. Bayo Adejumo, who is a federal worker at the centre of the corrupt leadership practices in the state, the workers have continually sunk in serious financial predicament, expectant of sigh of relief when the arrears are paid. An anonymous worker last week lamented that the state’s NLC chairman should be investigated by the EFCC, claiming that he is living above his means. He said he changed the roof of his old house in December, 2015 with a whooping sum of 3 million naira and that that amount can only be gotten in accumulation, considering his grade level, in 4 years without spending a penny from his salaries and allowances. “However, from another quarter, it was gathered that the federal government, particularly, the federal Ministry of Finance has intentionally overlooked the requirements to be meant before granting the fresh bailout and has again released a total sum of 17 billion naira bailout to the state governor, which many opinion leaders have seen as financial recklessness by Buhari-led administration that has taken fight against corruption has its substituted agenda among the numerous promises the president made during his electioneering campaign. This has shown clearly that the federal government is biased in his attack on corruption. Many have now diagnosed that David Cameron’s statement that “Nigeria is fantastically corrupt” was born out of the fact that the “holy” federal government leadership refused to touch the most corrupt leaders at the state level, rather it was busy chasing the opposition, otherwise, people like the governor of Osun state would have be probe by EFCC and his numerous account worth billions of naira would have been frozen. “As it stands now, it seems the whole document earlier planed by the state governor to be signed by the labour leaders was in tandem with portraying seriousness and gallantry by the labour leaders in the state while the original motive of forfeiting the arrears of over a year has already been concluded by the labour leaders who have been variously probably bribed and bought. “The workers are now at the mercy of the political oppositions in the state, various rights organizations, national leadership of the NLC, TUC and JNC and Transparency International to help them out of the woods in receiving their legitimate earnings and request the EFCC and other anti corruption agencies to investigate the accounts owned by the state governor and his relatives just like they have done to the Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose, who they perceived to have embezzled the state funds that led to his inability to pay workers their fair earnings. The same thing is in Osun State and there should not be a sacred cow in the matters like this just as the workers of Osun State are saying enough is enough”.]]>