by Anike Jacobs

Last week, Governor Ayodele Fayose put smiles on the faces of citizens of Ekiti state by distributing rice, chicken and other consumable items to them.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has however condemned the action, saying the chickens were malnourished.

In a statement released by the State Publicity Secretary of the APC, Taiwo Olatubosun, the party said the Governor had turned Ekiti people to beggars by giving them handouts in form of, “kwashiorkor-infested chickens not bigger in size than ailing pigeons.”

“Ekiti people have now seen the deceit of a man who says he is a friend of the common man with his callous attitude to the people he claims to love during the period the people are supposed to be happy.

“Governor Fayose gave two ‘congos’ of rice and miserable palm oil not up to 1 litre, all totaling N700 to each worker that the governor had earlier deducted N2,000 from their salary for Christmas gift.

“This is in contrast to Governor Kayode Fayemi, who empowered the people through agriculture, cooperative and employment and apprenticeship schemes involving over 2,000 youths, which helped the people to earn a living and made them happy for four years as against Fayose’s tokenism as Christmas gifts.”

“Fayemi last year paid civil servants 30 per cent of their salary as Xmas bonus. He also paid their leave bonus while their December salary was paid on December 18. In contrast, Fayose has refused to pay civil servants their September salary even though he had collected September allocation from the Federal Government. Civil servants are yet to be paid as at December 22.”

“Last year, apart from 30 per cent bonus and leave bonus, all offices in MDAS were given gifts but all these have gone under Fayose as workers are now praying for their September salary let alone December salary or Xmas or leave bonus.”

The APC spokesman said Fayose had worsened the conditions of Ekiti workers by making it plain that he had no money to pay December salary even though he had received December allocation, describing the governor’s action as “callous and insensitive”.

“Governor Fayose should ask Ekiti citizens how Fayemi added value to their lives for four years. He didn’t wait till Xmas period to pay N10,000 to over 20,000 youths in volunteer services for four years. He didn’t wait till Xmas before he paid N5,000 to 20, 000 elderly people in his social security scheme for four years in addition to feeding them with both cooked and raw food all year round.

“From what Fayose is doing, he is deliberately encouraging poverty so that people can be subservient to him and we sympathise with Ekiti workers and people who have suddenly been inflicted with miserable conditions by a governor touted to be the friend of the masses,” APC said.

Paying deaf ears to the rebuke, the governor visited the state police on Tuesday, December 23, and yet again, distributed chickens to the officers on duty.

Sola