A labour leader in Ekiti State, Comrade Ayo Arogundade, has urged state governors to prevail on the Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai over his face-off with the labour.
He said this was necessary in order to avert a looming state of anarchy that the trending face-off could lead to in the country.
Arogundade, warned that if something urgently is not done to restore peace between the Kaduna State Government and labour, the security situation in the country could be further threatened.
The activist equally described as illegal and condemnable, the threat by the governor to arrest the National President of NLC, Ayuba Wabba, saying that the threat cannot stand in the face of law.
The face-off between the state government and the NLC heightened after the union commenced a five-day warning strike to protest the government’s plans to lay off civil servants on Monday.
The government, on the other hand, said it will not shift ground, stating that the measure is to lessen the fiscal burden on the state.
In a telephone interview with the New National Star in Ado Ekiti on Thursday, Arogundade said “the action of El -Rufai is condemnable and wicked. It is against all relevant labour laws and international best labour practices and industrial relations to sack thousands of workers under the pretext of lack of funds.
“The governor would have reduced the number of his political appointees, reduced the allowances of political office holders, and reduced the cost of maintaining material resources to get money to keep the civil servants.
“The poor civil servants are not the ones to bear the brunt of the economic problems that were not caused by them. I strongly suggest that the political class should bear the brunt of the economic downturn. I support the warning strike of the NLC and condemn all the anti-labour actions of the governor.
“I, therefore, call on El -Rufai to reverse himself and recall all the sacked workers. I welcome the intervention of the Federal Government. However, both the Federal Government and Kaduna State Government should be sincere and have human feelings.”
Arogundade equally condemned the alleged attacks by thugs on the peaceful protesting workers, insisting that “the workers have the right to embark on peaceful protests. It is their constitutional right to hold a peaceful protest.”
He added that the workers cannot be laid -off on the ground of redundancy without consultation and discussion with their unions
“I, therefore, call on all other governors in Nigeria not to emulate El-Rufai and they should call him to order. We are in a democracy and there are laws guiding us. And again, the so-called sack of some nurses and other workers should be reversed,” the activist said.