Fayose asked us to support Fayemi – Ekiti PDP Assembly members

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members from the Ekiti State House of Assembly yesterday said that it was the immediate past governor of the State, Mr Ayodele Fayose that directed them to support Governor Kayode Fayemi in the interest of Ekiti.


This is just as they denied that they have decamped to the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC).

They made the disclosure yesterday when the Deputy Speaker, Mr Adewumi Olusegun briefed newsmen in Ado Ekiti on behalf of other caucus members.


He said, “We remain committed members of the PDP as against insinuation in some quarters that we have decamped to APC.

“We make bold to say that our support for the state governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi was at the instance of the outgone Governor Ayodele Fayose who directed that we should co-operate with the governor elect then in the interest of Ekiti State.

“It was on this premise of the advice that we acted, because Ekiti agenda is bigger than any individual or political party.”


Olusegun said that Senator Olujimi is the most eminently qualified at the moment to be in the leadership position as the highest political office holder presently in the state.

He described those having different opinion as “mischievous, lazy and political jobbers as there is no contest about the leadership of the party since the position is not contested for but earned.”

Olusegun described the House of Reps members in Ekiti as ‘yes men who are not capable of having opinion of their own’.

The lawmakers declared that Tope Aluko, the erstwhile secretary of the party in the state, remained a bonafide member of the PDP and was not at any time expelled.

DailyPost

Labour To Begin Strike, Directs Members to Comply

The Organised Labour has called on workers from all sectors of the economy to comply with the seven days nationwide warning strike over refusal of the Federal Government to reconvene the negotiation on Minimum Wage.

Mr Ayuba Wabba, President, Nigeria Labour Congress made the call at a joint news conference organised by NLC, Trade Union Congress and United Labour Congress on Wednesday in Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria  recalls that the organised labour had accused the Federal Government of stalling the negotiation by failing to mention a figure as a new minimum wage for workers in the country.



The organised labour had also on September 12 issued the Federal Government a 14-day ultimatum insisting that the Tripartite Committee on the new National Minimum Wage should conclude its work within the stipulated time frame.

The Organised Labour said it would commence nationwide warning strike over the non-implementation of the new National Minimum Wage with effect from midnight of Wednesday, September 26.

According to Wabba, the action is in compliance with the decision of the various organs of the organised labour, which endorsed the 14-day ultimatum served on the Federal Government by member of the unions who were part of the negotiation committee.

“The labour further mandated its leadership to take all necessary steps to  ensure compliance with the warning strike in the first instance.
“This is to compel the government to reconvene the meeting of the committee in order to bring it to a logical conclusion.

“In compliance with this mandate, all workers in the public and private sectors at all levels across the country have been directed to join the strike.
“Industrial unions, state councils, all workers organisation and our civil society allies have been directed to step up mobilisation of their members,” he said.

He also said that public and private institutions, offices, banks, schools, public and private business premises including filling stations are to remain shut till further notice.

Wabba said that all those who mean well for the country and want to see to the success of the action should cooperate with labour, saying that the action would remain in force until further directive are given.
The NLC president noted that the justification for the new national minimum wage cannot be over argued.

“We do believe that the reasons governors find it difficult to pay the national minimum wage are lack of political will, high level of corruption, excessive cost of governance, white elephants projects and among others.

“In any case, we are commending the governors that have indicated their readiness to pay the new national minimum wage and we advise those who are not prepared to pay to go back to their state and tell the workers in their state that they would not pay.

“We, therefore, find it necessary to caution against any attempt by government at any level to blackmail workers or/and their unions because we have been patient, considerate and patriotic.
“Indeed government had to commend workers and their union for waiting patiently for two years before commencing negotiations for a new National Minimum wage.

“We advise that our disposition should not be taken for granted,’’ he said.
NAN also reports that the Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige would be meeting with Organised Labour over the nationwide warning strike.

The National Minimum Wage Committee was inaugurated in November 2017 and commenced sitting in March 2018 with a timeline to deliver on its mandate of arriving at a new national minimum wage by August/ September 2018.


(NAN) Punch

Lagos Transport Reform: 4,000 bus conductors register With LASDRI

4,000 bus conductors register following Lagos State Transport Reform – More than 4,000 members of the Bus Conductor Association of Nigeria (BCAN) have registered with Lagos State Drivers Institute (LASDRI) for training and accreditation.

Mr Isreal Adeshola, President of the association, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Tuesday.

According to him, the development will enable them function as stipulated in the rules and regulations of the state government in line with the transportation reform.

“Over 4,000 members are fully ready to operate along with the new Lagos State transportation reform.

“We have attended LASDRI for accreditation and also to the Directorate of Transport Commuters Service to get various identification badges including our uniforms.

“We want to assure the people and the government that our members are fully for the state transformation on transport system.

“All these we have done to get prepared for the state development plan in the transport system,’’ he said.

The official said that there were over 270, 000 bus conductors in the state, adding that over 4,000 of them had registered as members officially.

According to him, the association has been telling members that very soon conductor work will no longer be business as usual.

“The association had trained and ensured that registered members get accredited by the concern authority to ensure accountability and effectiveness on duty.

“BCAN wants to ensure no more jumping and hanging on the buses anyhow.

“We are in line with the state government’s plan on the new transport reform and we enjoin others in the system to key into the system and get registered,’’ he said.

Adeshola appealed to the state government to carry members of the association along with the ongoing reform.

“We need government to assist us along with the ongoing reform in the transport sector.

“If the government is building the country or a state without carrying the youths along or involving them in the system the development may not be sustainable,’’ he added.

NAN reports that Lagos state government is set to roll out buses to service routes on the Oshodi-Abule Egba axis, with the arrival of 250 buses in line with the transport reform.

Mr Ladi Lawanson, the State Commissioner for Transport, had told NAN that the routes for deployment of the buses had been identified.

“In the last couple of months, we did the commissioning of the Ikeja Terminal, which was meant to be the flagship.

“The Ikeja Terminal was signaling the beginning of what was going to be the entire project, consisting of 13 terminals including Oyingbo, Yaba.

“The first set of buses have come and we are using the Ikeja axis as a laboratory where we are going to roll out from,” he said.

The post 4,000 bus conductors register following Lagos State Transport Reform appeared first on Lagos Television.

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