21st December, 2021
Workers of tertiary institutions in Ekiti State, on Monday, issued a 24-hour deadline to the state government over unpaid five months subventions amounting to N3.172bn.
According to the ultimatum, the state government has until Tuesday morning to reverse a strike action.
The workers, under the aegis of Joint Action Committee of Subventing Institutions in Ekiti State, said, “Any failure on the part of the government to accede to this demand will no doubt lead to the declaration of an unprecedented industrial dispute with the state government and, at that stage, we should not be blamed for the forms it may take.”
The institutions include Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti; Bamidele Olumilua University of Science and Technology, Ikere; Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, Ado Ekiti; and Ekiti State College of Health, Sciences and Technology, Ijero Ekiti.
The Chairman, Academic Staff Union of Universities, EKSU chapter, Dr Kayode Arogundade, who spoke on behalf of the labour unions of the institutions at a press conference with the theme “Governor Kayode Fayemi’s flagrant refusal to defray our five months’ outstanding subventions is a keg of gunpowder,” lamented that the state government had abandoned the institutions.
He said, “Succinctly put, we demand that the five months subventions due to all subventing institutions in Ekiti State amounting to just N3.172billion be released within the next 24 hours.
“The institutions in Ekiti State will like to appeal to stakeholders to help reach out to the state governor on the need to deviate from his inept plan at destroying the state further before his exit from office come October 16, 2022.”
JACOSIES also took a swipe at the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress in the state over “recent romance” with the state government.
The group said “The NLC leadership for fear of the stomach is fond of unrepentantly suppressing truth and alienating the union leaderships of subverting institutions.”