According to The Punch, Teachers in Ekiti State on Thursday said they had no regret voting against ex-Governor Kayode Fayemi in the June 21, 2014 governorship election in the State. The teachers who spoke through their umbrella body, the Nigeria Union of Teachers, Ekiti chapter, said they voted against Fayemi for introducing anti-teachers policies.
The union was reacting to a programme anchored on Adaba FM, an Akure, Ondo State based Radio Station, where some teachers were said to have phoned Fayemi, who featured in a live programme and apologised to him on behalf of others, having compared his administration with the present one.
The NUT Chairman, Comrade Samuel Akosile, in a statement on Thursday described those who rendered the apologies as Fayemi’s apologists and not members of the Union.
He advised the former governor to refrain from dragging the body into politics, saying, “In as much as we do not want to be dragged into politics because we are civil servants and unionists, we feel constrained to ask Governor Fayemi and his apologists that: who deserves apology, Fayemi or Ekiti teachers in this matter?.
“Do we need to apologise for refusing to sit for an examination that was meant to retrench us? Do we need to apologise for going on strike for demanding for our rights for the payment of 27.5%? Do we need to apologise for standing up as a union to oppose policies that are inimical to educational development and teachers’ welfare?.”
Akosile described the statement credited to All Progressives Congress commending the teachers for showing remorse and tendering apologies as uncalled for.
He said his members had no regret for voting Fayose as the validly elected governor during the governorship poll, urging the APC to stop orchestrating fake individuals to act like his members in a manner that could ridicule the body.
He asked, “What has Fayose done to teachers in less than three months into his administration that calls for regret? “From what happened before and during the governorship election, we think the last administration should realise that this kind of media intrigue and shenanigan has no effect on Ekiti people.
“Ekiti teachers have more than enough reasons to vote Fayemi out of government and we can never regret it,” Akosile added. (The Punch)