The opposition Peoples Democratic Party in Ekiti State and the ruling All Progressives Congress have clashed over the entitlements of workers and pensioners.
While the PDP charged the Kayode Fayemi administration of counting salary payment as achievement and denying workers and pensioners in the state of their entitlements, the APC said workers who were denied six to seven months during the Ayodele Fayose-led PDP administration were happy for being paid regularly by Fayemi.
The PDP governorship candidate, Bisi Kolawole, who spoke in Ado Ekiti while addressing labour leaders and pensioners, assured them of better welfare packages if elected.
Kolawole said, “Payment of salary shouldn’t be government’s achievement.”
He berated the Fayemi-led APC government for “non-remittance of seven months deductions from workers salary”, saying that “any government that is paying workers’ salary without paying deductions is only paying less than 40 per cent of its wage bill.”
He promised that his government would not only pay salary of workers, but would also pay deductions as and when due.
Kolawole also assured pensioners that everything possible would be done to offset the arrears of pension and gratuities, saying, “It is unacceptable for people who served the state meritoriously to be denied their entitlements”.
But the APC State Publicity Secretary, Segun Dipe, said although salary payment was not an achievement, the workers who got their salaries as and when due and could plan with such would see it as beneficial.
Dipe said, “When PDP was here, workers were not paid for six and seven months to categories of workers, such workers, who now get their salaries as and when due under Fayemi, will they not be happy? The issue of deduction is a result of some technical issues, and I can assure you that the money will be paid.
The APC spokesperson who said that workers and pensioners in the state knew the APC administration as their friend, said, “Fayemi increased the monthly release to pensioners from N10 million to N100 million to fast track their payment.”
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