Governor El-Rufai said his colleague governors left him to his fate as he battled the labour unions. The Kaduna governor also claimed that one of his colleagues gave money to the NLC to cause chaos in his state. El-Rufai, however, noted that what he is facing in Kaduna state will soon reach other states if the governors’ forum does not unite against the labour unions.
Nasir El-Rufai, the governor of Kaduna state, has accused his fellow governors of abandoning his administration in its crisis with the Nigeria Labour Congress. The Punch reported that El-Rufai said this during a virtual meeting of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum on Wednesday, May 19.
He also accused an unnamed governor of providing mobilisation funds for the NLC to destabilise the northwestern state.
In His words: “I would like to inform the forum that one of our colleagues, a state governor actually gave the NLC money to come to Kaduna to do this because people think everything is politics.” Workers in the state workers had on Monday, May 17, begun a five-day strike over the El-Rufai administration’s mass sack of civil servants.
The strike had brought the northwestern state to a standstill as workers, including those performing essential duties, abandoned their duties.
Baring his mind at the NGF meeting on Wednesday, El-Rufai said he did not get the required support from his colleagues, The Cable also stated.
The Kaduna state governor described labour unions as the greatest threat to Nigeria, noting that governors must come together to tackle their menace to prevent the country from degenerating further.
He said the strike in his state is politically motivated as Kaduna is not the only state that has sacked workers even.
Governor El-Rufai also noted that, unlike some states, his administration is paying the minimum wage and is no owing years of pension arrears. Nigerians react Kayode Okandeji said:
“How NGF playing politics in what happened in Kaduna state, Mr governor are you telling us that both APC and PDP involved in what’s happens in your state.”
Chris Adams said: “That’s true but unfortunately the NLC chose to use you as the scapegoat”
Ikechukwu Nwuzor said: “So politicians hate playing both sides, you will soon fight yourselves by God’s Grace.” Wednesday, May 19, the president of the NLC, Ayuba Wabba, said the decision is to honour the invitation of the federal government on Thursday, May 20.
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Meanwhile, the NLC has suspended the warning strike in Kaduna state. Announcing the suspension on Wednesday, May 19, the president of the NLC, Ayuba Wabba, said the decision is to honour the invitation of the federal government on Thursday, May 20.
The federal government had invited the labour leaders and the Kaduna state government to mediate in their dispute which has brought the northwestern state to a standstill. In another report, the Kaduna state governor had earlier vowed that the NLC president, Comrade Ayuba Wabba and other labour leaders will be dealt with. El-Rufai made the statement on Wednesday, May 19, during the 23rd Annual Tax Conference in Kaduna.
He said by the time his government is done with them, Wabba and other NLC leaders will never return to Kaduna state. He described the labour leaders as criminals, adding that their actions which prevented businesses like banks, petrol stations and others from opening are illegal.
