A move by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun state to throw the state’s civil service into turmoil have met a brick wall as the Labour leaders turned down a N50 million financial inducement offer from the main opposition party.
The APC approached some labour leaders in the state and sought to utilize the misunderstanding that arises from an audit exercise introduced by the Governor Ademola Adeleke administration to advance its agenda.
It would recalled that workers had protested the treatment of the consultant handling the audit exercise, prompting them to angrily leave the venue the exercise last Thursday.
The incident, though, was swiftly addressed by Governor Adeleke, who has since ordered a review of the exercise inline with the expectation of workers, provided an opening for the APC to penetrate the state’s civil service, another source noted.
It was learnt that APC, led by a former Commissioner, had reached out to labour leaders to explore the development in breaking the support enjoyed by the Adeleke administration.
An anonymous source disclosed that meetings were held in two different locations in Osogbo, the state capital, the APC team tried to persuade Labour leaders to help destabilize the state’s service to weaken support for Governor Adeleke.
According to the source; “They (APC) did not hide the fact that workers are resolute in their support for the Governor (Adeleke). They had thought what happened with the staff audit would break the support but was surprised to see that workers do not hold the blame of the conduct of the consultant on the Governor,” the source said.
“This must be what necessitated this new move and going by how they (APC team) vigorously pushed it to the labour leaders in the two meetings, you will be shocked at the level of desperation of the main opposition to return to power.”
But the labour leaders are wary of serving as a tool for politicians to advance their causes, and cleverly share fears on the larger implication of a destabilized civil service to the state.
When it was apparent that the labour leaders isn’t interested in what the APC team wants from them, the former Commissioner who is an ally of former Governor Gboyega Oyetola, tabled a bribe of N50 million to persuade them, which according to the source, was flatly rejected.
“Initially, they (labour leaders’) were diplomatic in declining the proposition of the APC team, but at a point, one of them rose up to tell them that they cannot be used as a tool to destabilize the state’s civil service,” the source noted.
“While he noted the dismay of the entire workforce of the state to the conduct of the consultant handling the audit exercise, he said Governor Adeleke did no wrong and it will be unfair to him to hold whatever happened against him, more so, when he has quickly addressed the issue.”
At a point, the source noted that, the labour leaders used the meeting to remind the APC team of the harsh conditions that workers went through under the party in the state, adding that “They (labour leaders) said it would be a hard sell to the generality of workers to team up with a party that treated them badly to frustrate a government that has so far demonstrated interest in bringing relief to them.”
The posture of the labour leaders, it was further learnt, shocked the APC team and sensing the futility of pushing through the agenda of destabilizing Osun civil service, reluctantly succumb to the resistance of the union leaders.
