Oshiomhole tasks NLC on workers’ salaries

EDO State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole has called on the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to ensure that all governors pay workers salaries before the May 29th handover date.

The governor who stated this in Abuja, yesterday, when he paid a courtesy visit on the NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, explained that if the NLC watches and allow governors who owe several months salaries to go, the incoming governors will have insurmountable arrears.

He said: “NLC must come out and demand the payment of workers through cash or assets to before they leave office on May 29th. Otherwise, you are (NLC) going to meet new governors who will be lamenting over huge debt profile and begin to beg you for more time to allow more time and that can be moved from one year arrears to 15 months arrears. You must move swiftly to ensure that Nigerian workers are not short-changed in the process even as government change from one party to another.”

Commenting on the attempt by some members of the NLC to factionlise the movement, Oshiomhole, who was President of the NLC between 1999 and 2007, berated their action. He opined that he cannot intervene in a matter that produced credible leadership at the end of which some losers decided to form parallel movement.

His words: “I am aware of some persons who are not happy about the outcome of the election. That is the way democracy works. The only way you can avoid defeat in a democracy is not to participate in an election in which there are more than one contestant. Once you submit to an electoral process in which there is more than one contestant, the electorates have only one candidate to choose from those contesting. I will stand by the truth anytime, any day because the truth does not require supporters club.”

Oshiomhole wondered why it is difficult for the dissatisfied persons to concede defeat and also refused to learn from President Goodluck Jonathan to concede defeat even before his defeat was officially announced.

“If President Goodluck Jonathan, the Commander of the Armed Forces could concede defeat even before Jega pronounced him defeated, how can labour people refused to accept the outcome of an election? My view is that we must stand in unison to condemn what is wrong. People must be told the truth that they have lost and they can come back next time to contest; that is the logic of democracy,” he stated.