— Say payment was requested by workers, not vote-buying
By Shina Abubakar, Osogbo
OSOGBO — Organised labour unions in Osun State have defended Governor Ademola Adeleke against allegations that the N10,000 payment to workers was intended to induce them to vote for the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the August 15 governorship election.
The unions, comprising the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC; Trade Union Congress, TUC; and Joint Negotiation Council, JNC, said the payment was a palliative requested by workers to cushion the effects of economic hardship.
The labour leaders spoke with journalists on the sidelines of a congress held outside the state government secretariat in Osogbo.
NLC Chairman, Dr Christopher Arapasopo, said organised labour had formally written to Adeleke in April requesting financial assistance for workers and pensioners in the state.
According to him, the unions initially requested N20,000 for each worker and pensioner but later agreed to N10,000 following discussions with the governor over the state’s financial situation.
Arapasopo said: “The organised labour wrote a letter to His Excellency, Senator Ademola Adeleke, in April, where we requested and demanded palliatives for the workers and pensioners in the state.
“We requested N20,000 for each worker and we later had a meeting in July and agreed that, based on the financial constraints in the state, the governor promised to pay N10,000 each for workers and pensioners.
“We later saw it on social media where the opposition was tagging the palliative as vote-buying. It is not vote-buying. We demanded for it and we are telling the world and the EFCC that it is not vote-buying, but palliative.”
Also speaking, the Chairman of JNC, Adediran Olalekan, urged workers and pensioners not to be intimidated ahead of the election.
He advised them to participate in the election and vote for candidates of their choice.
“We are all stakeholders. All the civil servants and pensioners of Osun have been in this system for a long time. We have worked with several governors with different experiences, and we implore them all to go out with their Permanent Voter Cards, PVCs, to their various polling units and vote for the candidate of their choice, without tension or fear,” he said.
Olalekan also appealed to President Bola Tinubu to direct security agencies to ensure a level playing field for all political parties during the election.
“We also appeal to President Bola Tinubu to call security agencies to order and ensure that a level playing field is provided for all parties without bias or intimidation,” he added.
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