JOSEPH OKWUOFU, Ibadan
Special Adviser to Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State on Labour Affairs, Comrade Bayo Titilola Sodo, on Wednesday took a swipeat the Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nadir El-Rufai, for sacking some workers on the state civil service payroll without following laid down civil service rules.
According to the former NLC boss, it is absolutely wrong for Kaduna state governor, Mallam Nasir El-rufai to wake up one day and declare that he has sack some workers in the state.
Sodo, who is the immediate past Chairman of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in the state, made this disclosure while speaking with journalists in Ibadan.
The Special Adviser to governor Makinde, also a former National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) President, while featuring at an interactive session organized by Oyo State Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Correspondents’s Chapel insisted that Kaduna state is not the property of the Governor, hence it is wrong for the Governor to sack workers in the state without following due process.
Sodo while speaking on the ongoing faceoff between workers and Kaduna State Governor, insisted that he will always be on the side of the workers because he believed in promotion of welfare of the workers.
He said that as a Special Adviser to Governor on Labour Affairs, he will continue to agitate for the welfare of workers irrespective of level or position.
He added that he represents the labour in the government of Governor Seyi Makinde, hence he has been working to ensure that workers’ welfare is being given needed attentions.
“I am with NLC, you cannot just wake up one day and say that you are sacking the workers.
“It is about the government. It is not El-rufai and sons. It is Kaduna state government. Due process must be followed.
“I see myself as representive of the labour in the government of Governor Seyi Makinde. I see myself as the ears and eyes of the labour. I take responsibility for whatever mistake the governor may have made.”
Sodo who noted that Oyo State is paying 30,500 minimum wage added that some wrongly dismissed workers have been reinstated by Makinde administration.
He said that the workers were recalled because it was found out that they were wrongly sacked by previous administration in the state.
“Some wrongly dismissed workers have been reinstated back to the service. The minimum wage in Oyo State is N30,500 and I can say that it not more COVID-19, it will be more than that.
“The government has paid over N13 billion across sectors to pensioners in the state and it has increased the maternity leave to six (6) months.
“You can see, the labour/government relation has improved. That is not what we met in May 2019.”
