Private sector workers under the umbrella of Conference of Ekiti Private Sector Unions(COEPSU), trooped out in Ado-Ekiti on Friday to rally support for embattled Governor Ayo Fayose.
This is in response to an anti-Fayose protest that swept through the state on Thursday.
The group used the rally to decry what they described as the persistent use of agencies of the Federal Government to harass and intimidate the governor.
The rally came a day after the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties(CNPP), the All Progressives Congress(APC) and other interest groups in the state staged a protest calling on Mr. Fayose to wave his immunity and face the challenge of proving his innocence following his linkage with the N4.7billion alleged fraud at the offices of the National Security Adviser.
COEPSU is the amalgamation of drivers’ unions (NURTW, RTEAN, COOP), tailors, caterers, hunters, tipper owners, musicians, theatre practitioners, beer sellers, artisans, okada riders, saw millers, timber merchants, bricklayers, technicians, independent broadcasters, medicine sellers among others.
The secretary of the union, Lanre Agbede, said the coming together of the workers was aimed at defending their rights of the people and that of the state government.
Premium Times quoted him as saying:
“The workers are miffed by what is being witnessed in the State today, in which the party that was openly rejected by the people has persistently waged war against the person elected by Ekiti State,” he said.
“Most importantly, we are not unmindful of the use of the federal government apparatus against the government of Ekiti State, and we wish to State that under a federal system of government that is being practiced in Nigeria, the federal government should not bully any State government under whatever guise.
“Even though we support the ridding of Nigeria of corruption, especially in the public service, it is our opinion that there should be no two laws in Nigeria.
“In its fight against corruption, attention of the federal government must be on all Nigerians irrespective of their political parties and anti-corruption agencies of the federal government must operate within the ambit of the laws.
“A situation where the bank accounts of our governor will be frozen by the EFCC despite that he enjoys absolute immunity is not acceptable to us and we condemn it totally.”
While addressing the protesters, Mr. Fayose noted that his problems with the EFCC were orchestrated by the APC in its bid to ensure the PDP did not win the coming governorship election in 2018.
“They said I collected a sum of N1.3billion from the office of the former National Security Adviser, Col Sambo Dasuki to fund my election. Some even said I collected it through Mr. Musiliu Obanikoro,” he said.
“Let me put it on record that I did not know Col. Dasuki and Obanikoro has not come out openly to indict me, because he has not returned from abroad .
“They said a similar thing in 2006. It was all about second term then, because they didn’t want me to contest for second term.
“They said the N1.3bn project which I initiated was a scam, but God brought me back. The APC and EFCC conspirators took me before a Judge and I got justice.”
Fayose said he would continue his criticism of the federal government despite his current predicament at the hands of the EFCC and the APC.
