The Governor seized the space provided by some youths who some say were hired to pay him a solidarity visit at the Government House, Owerri, following massive criticism that has trailed his government lately.
Okorocha who accused the workers of reneging on the recent agreement it freely entered into with the state government said the strike was “illegal and would not be tolerated next time”.
It was the considered opinion of the Governor that “the strike was politically motivated and principally aimed at rubbishing the good reputation of his administration”.
He wondered why civil servants should embark on strike “because of just months of unpaid salaries” owed by his administration but failed to disclose whether his own salary was also in arrears. .
Okorocha was particularly irked that no other state went on strike over non-payment of salaries, considering the economic meltdown facing the country but failed to mention the case of Osun, another APC governed state the workers of which were on strike for several months..
“I do not know of any other state whose workers went on strike as a result of unpaid salaries. Imo workers treated me unjustly by embarking on the current industrial action”, Okorocha said.
Explaining why he took the decision to sack the striking workers if they fail to resume, the Governor said a lot of youths in the state are in need of employment.
Meanwhile, labour leaders in the state have considered this as an act of intimidation and have advised civil servants to ignore the threat issued by the Governor, stressing that labour may completely shut down the state if government failed to pay their unpaid salaries.
Labour also ordered pensioners not to appear before any verification team set up by the state government, stressing this verification had been conducted several times by the present administration, without paying the pensions
Rochas OkoroAwusa, AgbooAwusa go and pay the workers salary and stop fooling yourself, wicked set of people!
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