Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti
Another round of controversy yesterday broke out between the two major parties in Ekiti State, as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) urged the state Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, to immediately refund the over N100 million allegedly collected from job seekers last August.
The PDP said despite the fact that Fayemi allegedly sacked over 3,500 workers in the state public service, including the Ekiti State University and Teaching Hospital, he has refused to employ anyone since last August, and that employment forms were sold to over 100,000 job seekers.
Countering the PDP’s position, the All Progressives Congress (APC) spokesperson in the state, Hon Ade Ajayi, said the ruling party was not ready to dignify the PDP with response.
He said: “We are not ready to dignify PDP with any response because we are currently busy joining Governor Fayemi to find solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic that had affected some people in the state.”
In a statement issued by the Secretary of the PDP Caretaker Committee, Prince Diran Odeyemi, the party said: “It appears the recruitment exercise done by the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM) and Civil Service Commission has turned out to be a scam, and the over N100 million fraudulently collected from job seekers by the state government must be refunded.”
Odeyemi, who said it was painful that a governor, who prides himself as a democrat, could throw over 3,500 families in the state into anguish by sacking people duly employed, added that “with his anti-people policies, Fayemi has no doubt remained the greatest pain in the neck of Ekiti people.
“Since 1999, the only time recruitments were made into the Ekiti State public service was during PDP governments.
“Painfully, during Fayemi’s first tenure as governor, workers were sacked while no single recruitment was made. Those who were not sacked were demoted, using various untenable excuses and tactics, including a competency test which was rejected by teachers.
“In his second tenure, Fayemi has not only lived up to his incompetence by first sacking over 2,000 workers employed in 2018 by the PDP government of Governor Ayodele Fayose, he later sacked over 1,500 workers of the state university that were employed in 2016 and 2017, as well as over 100,000 unemployed Ekiti youths were defrauded with fake recruitment exercise.
“It is now 10 months that these unemployed youths were made to pay N1, 080 each for employment form, with other undisclosed payments, yet no single person has been employed, and nothing has been said by the state government.
“Our demand as a responsible opposition party and on behalf of the unemployed is that since it has become obvious that no employment will be made by the All Progressives Congress (APC) government of Fayemi, money collected from the poor job seekers must be refunded.”
In its reply, the APC added: “PDP might be insensitive, but APC is not. Our main preoccupation now is on how to defeat this pandemic and not playing politics with the lives of the people.
“But let me assure the people that we shall reply this shameless party at the appropriate time.
“We will let them know that the APC is more beneficial and kind to Ekiti people than PDP, and that accounted for why Fayemi was reelected in 2018.”
