REACTING to the outburst of Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, organised labour, on Thursday, said the governor was an embarrassment to public office in Nigeria, describing him as anti-people and a chameleon.
Recall that the Governor Thursday in Abuja at a ‘Governance Matters’ roundtable organized by Development Alternative Incorporation (DAI), said the excesses of the trade unions must be curtailed.
At the roundtable, he also advocated for low minimum wage for Nigerian workers, saying, “except we set a very low minimum wage, there will continue be issues especially with states that do not have wide tax net. You cannot set the same minimum wage for Lagos and Jigawa.”
General Secretary of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Dr. Peter Ozo-Eson, said Congress was not surprised by what were credited to the governor because he had been an anti-labour person with penchant for breaking the labour laws of the land.
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He said: “The country has a better moral standing than the likes of el-Rufai who has demonstrated that he is not fit to hold public office or political position. He is an embarrassment to public office in Nigeria. He speaks out of both sides of the mouth. He always changes position for his personal aggrandizement. This is the same el-Rufai who once gate-crashed into one of NLC’s protests and pleaded to have NLC apron to be part of the protest.”
Similarly, President of United Labour Congress of Nigeria, ULC, Joe Ajaero, said: “He is anti-progress, anti-people and does not see any good in something progressive. If el-Rufai praises anybody, know that such a person is about to die. He prefers money to human beings as he has demonstrated in Kaduna. We are not surprised at his views. We want to know if he is speaking for the APC government or for himself. His comments are challenges to labour movement.
“If he is speaking about the civil servants in the state, he can say whatever he likes. But he cannot generalize, if he does, we will take him on. We will make him to eat his words. People like him have their places in history. His will not be different. He is who is he is. He could not have said anything different. He has a history of inflicting pains on the masses. He did so when he was the FCT minister and he is presently exhibiting same in Kaduna as governor.”
