Clashes with two ex-PDP governors over economy
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| Fr. Kukah, with microphone with Governor Oshiomole and former Governor Duke at The Podium |
Oshiomole said it was wrong
for the governors who enjoy fixed national wage same way it was fixed for
National Assembly lawmakers to insist that the new national
minimum wage should not be applicable to workers in their states.
“What I questioned and which I don’t accept is that you cannot have a centralized system of compensation for executives, governors, commissioners and local government chairmen. Their pay is centrally determined and the economy can afford that. What the Lagos State governor is receiving is what Edo State governor is receiving. If we have a national compensation, how can these governors turn around and question the wisdom of a national wage structures for workers?
“It is that selective application of fiscal federalism that I found extremely offensive and unacceptable. Even today, I remain firm that we must maintain a national minimum wage and we must find ways to implement and adjust it to reflect the cost of living and it is the duty of government and employers to find the revenue to pay those they hired to work. Non-payment of wages is a criminal breach of contract, whether in recession or prosperity,” Oshiomole said.
He said no one could change the situation through individual activism because the order that was meant to be changed was not due to ignorance but due to the fact that those who benefit from the order would not want to let go, but that they must be engaged to change the order.
The chairman of the occasion and a former governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke, said it was saddening that Nigerian politicians are mostly jobbers and budget padders, advocating for themselves and not the electorate they deceived with electoral campaigns.
“They cleverly and surreptitiously apply the word change. I, of course, won’t use that word because as a member of the PDP or what is left of it that word change ‘dey do me wan kind’. However improvement is constant. Not being satisfied without society is and seeking to better it, we advocate improvement, not change”, he said.
The Director, Kukah Centre, Dr. Arthur-Martins Aginam, said the forum among other things, was meant to elevate the quality of political discourse in the country by generating ideas through robust and informed engagement between public officials and citizens and in the processes, deepen the nation’s democracy.
“What I questioned and which I don’t accept is that you cannot have a centralized system of compensation for executives, governors, commissioners and local government chairmen. Their pay is centrally determined and the economy can afford that. What the Lagos State governor is receiving is what Edo State governor is receiving. If we have a national compensation, how can these governors turn around and question the wisdom of a national wage structures for workers?
“It is that selective application of fiscal federalism that I found extremely offensive and unacceptable. Even today, I remain firm that we must maintain a national minimum wage and we must find ways to implement and adjust it to reflect the cost of living and it is the duty of government and employers to find the revenue to pay those they hired to work. Non-payment of wages is a criminal breach of contract, whether in recession or prosperity,” Oshiomole said.
He said no one could change the situation through individual activism because the order that was meant to be changed was not due to ignorance but due to the fact that those who benefit from the order would not want to let go, but that they must be engaged to change the order.
The chairman of the occasion and a former governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke, said it was saddening that Nigerian politicians are mostly jobbers and budget padders, advocating for themselves and not the electorate they deceived with electoral campaigns.
“They cleverly and surreptitiously apply the word change. I, of course, won’t use that word because as a member of the PDP or what is left of it that word change ‘dey do me wan kind’. However improvement is constant. Not being satisfied without society is and seeking to better it, we advocate improvement, not change”, he said.
The Director, Kukah Centre, Dr. Arthur-Martins Aginam, said the forum among other things, was meant to elevate the quality of political discourse in the country by generating ideas through robust and informed engagement between public officials and citizens and in the processes, deepen the nation’s democracy.
Meanwhile Governor Oshiomole
at the event also clashed with a former Governor of Cross River State, Donald
Duke, and ex-Niger State Governor, Babangida Aliyu, over the poor performance
of the economy and decline of the Naira.
He said crass corruption
and looting, which characterised the PDP 16 years in power, were responsible
for Nigeria’s current economic crisis.
Oshiomhole said, “We have
to change the society where all you need to do is to get your brother elected
and get him around the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and he turns to
an oil marketer, do some papers and become a billionaire in the name of
subsidy.
“We have to change that;
and that is what this change is all about. There is always a time between
decisions and consequences. What politicians did in the past; that is the
consequences we are facing now.
“There is always a
timeline between massive looting of the treasury, transfer of defense budget to
private pockets, taking money meant for infrastructure and spending $16bn on
light (power). The more money you spend, the more darkness.”
Former Governor Donald Duke,
who was the chairman of the occasion, had earlier criticised the All
Progressives Congress-led Federal Government and its change mantra, adding that
the change campaign was nothing but fake propaganda.
He said, “Sadly,
politicians in our society today are mostly jobbers and budget padders
advocating for themselves and not the society. They cleverly and
surreptitiously apply the word change. I, of course, won’t use that word
because as a member of the PDP or what is left of it that word change ‘dey do
me one kind.”
Duke also questioned the
sincerity of Oshiomole as a labour leader during his days as President of the
Nigerian Labour Congress.
He said idealism then
contradicted some of the programmes championed by the Edo State governor.
Similarly, Niger State
former Governor, Aliyu tackled the Federal Government, APC governors and their
economic policies, warning that such economic policies had increased the
suffering of Nigerians.
Aliyu confronted
Oshiomole, who he said benefited tremendously from the PDP government but only
turned around to ridicule the party.
“During my time we paid
salaries. In the North, apart from Kano State, the rest 18 states are civil
service states. Payment of salary is very crucial in sustaining the economy.
This time around, they don’t understand anything about the essence of salary.”
Speaking on the policies
of the APC government, Aliyu said, “Please Governor Oshiomole, talk to Governor
Rochas Okorocha; tell him that civil servants were not employed to be farmers.”
He said although the
governor can defend the government, the prevailing economic circumstance was
biting the masses severely.
“Go to the market, go to
the streets, you will hear cry. I don’t understand this silence when some
people are messing up,” Aliyu said.
The Director of the Kukah
Centre, Dr. Arthur-Martins Aginam, said the forum among others was to elevate
the quality of political discourse in the country by generating ideas through
robust and informed engagement between public officials and citizens and in the
processes deepen the nation’s democracy.
Source: Daily Trust and Punch
Source: Daily Trust and Punch
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