A civil rights group, the Civil Societies Coalition for the Emancipation of Osun State (CSCEOS) has advised state and Local Government workers in the state to take the bull by the horn to effect the necessary change in the leadership of their unions, including the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Joint Negotiating Council (JNC), Nigeria Union of Local Government Employee (NULGE) and other affiliate unions, saying that their current leadership lack sincere and moral capability to continue in office .

The CSCEOS’ Chairman, Comrade Adeniyi Alimi Sulaiman, made this known on Monday, while addressing members of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), Osun State chapter, at their Internally Displaced Pensioners (IDP) camp, held at the popular Olaiya Junction area of Osogbo, the state capital.

He alleged that the present crop of Labour leaders in the state have had a gentleman agreement with the state Governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola not to pay the outstanding of 18 months arrears of salaries and pensions to the affected workers and retirees alike in the state, stressing that they have compromised with the government to subdue the workers and pensioners interest and welfare.

He added that the Labour leaders had conspired with the state government to divert the Paris Club refunds under the guise of ongoing white elephant projects, for which the government had earlier borrowed huge amount of funds from local and international financial institutions to execute between 2012 and 2014, leading to the financial quagmire facing the state since 2015.

He regretted that the labour leaders were always in support of Aregbesola led government, while the workers and pensioners were wallowing in abject poverty due to non-payment of their nine months backlog of salaries and pensions.

Comrade Sulaiman insisted that the Labour leaders, including; Jacoob Adekomi of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Wakeel Amuda of Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Bayo Adejumo of Joint Negotiating Council (JNC), A. Adeyeye of Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) and other leaders of the affiliate Union, including; one Gbenga Oyebode, who he said “were hobnobbing with Mr. Aregbesola, for their own personal pocket benefits.” He called for the disbandment of Comrade Hassan Sunmonu Allocation Apportionment Committee.

The high points of the event which was graced by the CSCEOS’ Director, Media and Strategy, Bishop Seun Adeoye, and Justice Olamide Folahanmi Oloyede, who through her organisation, the Virtuous Unlimited and Justice Initiative, rendered free medical services to the retirees in the state.

Comrade Sulaiman advised the pensioners in the state to continue with their legal and democratic means of pressing home demands for their gratuities, stoppage of half pension allowances and payment of outstanding 18 months half pension allowances by the State Government.

He described Aregbesola as a gladiator who needs to be confronted with brigandage approach, and lambasted the Labour leaders for conniving with Aregbesola not to declare the true monthly payment figure of the state since after the September 2015 workers and retirees screening exercise.

According to him, “It is time for workers in Osun State to replace their current leadership in the NLC, NUT, NULGE, JNC and other affiliate unions, because they have mortgaged the welfare of workers and retirees for their personal pocket. The Labour leaders have conspired with Mr. Rauf Aregbesola not to pay the 9month of backlog of workers’ salaries and pensions’ allowances. It is our belief that the power of any Labour union belongs to their workers.

“It is our candid advice to Comrade Hassan Sunmonu-led 17-man Allocation Apportionment Committee and other members of the Committee that still has integrity to resign from the Kangorro Committee that is toothless bulldog which can only bark but cannot bite. Hassan Sunmonu Committee is as good as nothing because all its decisions are not binding on the State Government under the watch of Aregbesola and their failure to declare the total amount be of categories of funds; including; meager monthly allocations, monthly Local Government Allocations, Budget Support funds, Ecological Funds, Internally Generated Revenue Funds, Bailout Funds and so on, being received by the State Government from the Federal Government, and how it was expended since the last fourteen months of the existence of the Committee and the State government still continue with their payment of modulated half salaries. Who is fooling who?”

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