Ekiti State Governor Biodun Oyebanji threw up his hands yesterday to deflect blames, acknowledging that the fuel scarcity gripping his state and the nation is beyond his jurisdiction.
Governor Biodun Oyebanji made this declaration on Wednesday during the May Day 2024 celebrations, which took place at the Ekiti Parapo Pavilion in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, as workers gathered to mark the annual labor day.
Speaking with journalists after the programme themed: “People First”, Oyebanji said his administration has intensified efforts to ensure that the premium motor spirit popularly known as petrol is supplied to Ekiti soon.
According to him, “I sympathize with the good people of Ekiti, it’s actually beyond our control and we are doing everything humanly possible to take the product to the state but the message we got this morning is that the product is not available in the country and they will start lifting by tomorrow.
“In the next few days, I expect this to ease. I will just appeal to them to be patient and to be calm”.
In a bid to ease the fuel scarcity, the Governor appealed to marketers in Ekiti State to avoid hoarding fuel, emphasizing that such practices only worsen the situation and hinder the well-being of the people.
In their address, the leaders of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) made a passionate appeal to the state government to reconsider its stance and reinstate the sacked workers of Ekiti State University (EKSU), Ado-Ekiti, who have been affected by the recent retrenchment.
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Comrade Kolapo Olatunde, Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), and Comrade Sola Adigun, Chairman of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), in Ekiti State, jointly emphasized that reinstating the sacked workers of Ekiti State University (EKSU) would bring much-needed relief and succor to the affected workers and their families.
“We wish to appeal for the reinstatement of sacked workers of Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti who have been languishing in suffering and with untold psychological trauma in the face of economic quagmire.
“The reinstatement of the affected workers will bring succor to them and their dependents and make them live a happy life”.
Comrade Kolapo Olatunde and Comrade Sola Adigun denounced the increase in electricity tariffs and the Band classification system, emphasizing that it is unfair to impose higher costs on consumers when the power sector is still grappling with issues of instability and erratic supply.
The labour leaders vehemently condemned the policy, labeling it a deliberate attempt to exacerbate the suffering of Nigerians, and demanded its immediate reversion to restore sanity and alleviate the burden on citizens.
“We still find it unfathomable the essence of increasing the electricity tariff abnormally and classification of electricity consumers into Band classification when there is no corresponding improvement in power generation and distribution.
“The policy is another neo-colonialist induced and deliberate attempt not only to impoverish Nigerians but also to sniff life out of the small or large scale businesses and industrial sectors, government should be thinking of providing good environment that will inject life back into the economy of the country hence the policy must be reverted to the status quo, we join national leadership of Nigeria Labour Congress in its quest to bring sanity back to this sector of our economy”.