The All Progressives Congress (APC) has praised the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) Ekiti Chapter for supporting autonomy for local governments as passed by the 19 APC lawmakers in the House of Assembly. It also stretched its arms of fellowship to the teachers who have asked for forgiveness over their stance on former Governor Kayode Fayemi-led administration.
In a statement by APC State Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatubosun, the party said NULGE’s position on the seven members of PDP in Ekiti House of Assembly who voted against local government autonomy would go down in history as speaking the truth in matters of popular demand among the people against a narrow political interest.
“The members of the Executive Council of NULGE in the state are men of sterling qualities and apolitical civil servants. Even at the risk of being hounded and haunted by those who neither know what separation of powers is all about nor have any respect for the rule of law, they voiced their stance on the rejection of the autonomy for local governments by the seven PDP members of the factionalised House of Assembly, who are busy relishing the illegal position they occupy at the moment. We salute their courage,” Olatubosun said.
It would be recalled that during its recent sitting in the state capital, the 19 APC members of the State House of Assembly led by Speaker Adewale Omirin voted in favour of local government autonomy for inclusion in the ongoing constitution amendment. Seven PDP members in the factionalsied Assembly aided by Governor Ayo Fayose later met to vote against autonomy for local councils.
In response, NULGE howled at the decision of the seven PDP members and reminded them of their place in history should they continue in their acts of impunity.
“The NULGE stance, which has our total support, is commendable while the stance of the PDP-Seven is condemnable, illegal, unconstitutional and of no consequence. We are recording it as one of the several illegalities they are being backed to commit by Governor Fayose,” APC spokesman added.
Meanwhile, APC has accepted the teachers’ apologies for misunderstanding Fayemi’s intentions in his education policy between 2010 and 2014. Some of the teachers apologized on behalf of other teachers to Fayemi in a phone-in live programme on Adaba FM last week.
His word: “We hold nothing against the teachers or anyone in the state. Rather, we share in their sorrows and pains as they celebrated dry Christmas. We are equal stakeholders. We, the teachers and NULGE are partners in progress in our unyielding stance to move our state forward. Along with other Ekiti people, we may be victims of Fayose’s draconian rule today, we shall soon overcome, for evil cannot prevail over good for long. Tough times don’t last but tough people do.”
Calling on state workers to hold firm to their belief in supporting what is right, Olatunbosun said with the National Assembly’s acceptance of the resolutions of the 19 APC members in the constitution amendment process, NULGE had stood on the positive side of history and urged local government workers to always partner their true representatives in the House of Assembly in their constitutional duties to make laws for good governance.
