Governor of Ekiti, Ayo Fayose, may punish the state’s workers by failing to pay their salaries, for embarking on strike without following due process and labour laws.

Fayose also denied the allegation that he awarded contracts to his relatives and business associates for the proposed ultra modern Oja Oba market, the Fly over in Fajuyi and the Airstrip.

The governor however, stated that none of his family members were contractors. He said: “Even if they are contractors, I would not have been foolish to the extent of asking them to come to Ekiti to take up contracts. So, all the All Progressives Congress was doing is to discredit me for criticising President Muhammadu Buhari.”

While speaking on a monthly programme ‘Mr Governor Explain’ in Ado Ekiti, Fayose said his government would no longer tolerate acts of indolence and unnecessary strike actions.

He also threatened to “divert the salary of any group of workers who embark on strike to those ready to show concern and understanding about the dwindling economic resources of the state.”

“Since I came back, Ekiti is financially challenged. I have not hidden the financial position of the state from workers, particularly the teachers, because they are the set of people I have shown so much love for. I celebrate them on annual basis. Even during my first term, people called me Teachers’ Governor due to my love for them.”

“But the strike they embarked on recently could have been resolved without any crisis if we had dialogued. Respect, they say, begets respect. Every worker in the State knows how much Ekiti takes after FACC in Abuja, because I always lay it bare on the table.”

“We should also know that the people who are not salary earners must be taken care of. We can’t be paying salary and neglecting other people from having access to facilities like good roads, good water supply including the market I just inaugurated.”

While speaking on The Osasu Show on the same day, Fayose urged the All Progressives Congress and the Federal Government to focus on building the nation’s economy rather than pay all their attention on fighting corruption.

“My first counsel to the Federal Government is that they should stop the noise about corruption. The Federal Government should face the nation’s economy and build it. The government needs to be sincere about the economy than playing to the gallery.

“You want to diversify and you are taking more than N150 billion to explore oil in the North; that shows a leader that is sectional. When we want to diversify we diversify the country’s economy and not an economy that is sectional.”

“Every war against corruption is welcome by me but in the situation whereby it is selective, political, it will be counterproductive. Cases like Halliburton is in the public domain, we cannot shy away from it.

“People believe that if the President (Muhammadu Buhari) wants to fight corruption he must be total. With due respect, President Buhari is a dictator. They are operating as if they are still in opposition because they don’t have a clue to this economy.

“In my prediction I said that Buhari is still in an analogue stage. He does not have a clue about the economy of Nigeria. The President does not understand economy. He can do everything simultaneously without rocking the boat of the whole country.

“Everywhere there is tension. He goes out of the country and tells the world and investors that the country is corrupt. He destroys his own people; who will come and do business with them?”