Teachers in Ekiti State on Thursday said they had no regret voting against ex-Governor Kayode Fayemi in the June 21, 2014 governorship election.
The teachers, who spoke through their umbrella body, the Nigeria Union of Teachers, Ekiti State 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, 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 “Inasmuch as we do not want to be dragged into politics because we are civil servants and unionists, we feel constrained to ask ex-Governor Fayemi and his apologists that who deserves apology, Fayemi or Ekiti teachers?
“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 our rights? Do we need to apologise for standing up as a union to oppose policies that were inimical to educational development and teachers’ welfare?”
Akosile described the statement credited to the All Progressives Congress commending the teachers for showing remorse and tendering apologies as uncalled for.
He said that his members had Ayodele no regret for voting for Fayose during the governorship poll, urging the APC to stop orchestrating fake individuals to act like its 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 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.
