Workers and residents of Ondo State on Friday criticised Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa for the late declaration of a work-free day ahead of Saturday’s local government election in the state.
The governor, through his Chief Press Secretary, Ebenezer Adeniyan, announced at around 7 pm on Thursday that there would be no official activities in the state on Friday to allow workers to travel to their respective hometowns to participate in the council poll.
Expressing their displeasure at what they described as a lack of coordination within the government, a civil servant in the state, who gave her name as Mrs Bakri, voiced her dismay at how the government disrupted her plans for Friday.
According to her, she and her colleagues had waited in the office until 4 pm on Thursday, expecting a circular to be issued regarding a public holiday 24 hours before Saturday’s election. However, no such notification had been sent by the time they left the office.
Bakri revealed that she became frustrated when a junior colleague phoned her at around 8:00 pm to inform her that a work-free day had been declared.
Emphasising that she had planned to clear her workload before the weekend, she noted that the government’s delay would now cause the work to spill into the following week.
“My colleagues and I had assumed we would come to the office today, as the governor didn’t communicate any holiday during official hours. It was surprising to see a statement released after I was already home, preparing for the next day’s work.
“Aiyedatiwa needs to get his act together. He can’t run a whole state like a private establishment. It’s not acceptable. He said we should travel for the election, but he expects me, because of his last-minute announcement on Thursday night, to wake up on Friday morning and head to Idoani?” she said.
Similarly, a parent, Seyi Adu, lamented that she only learned about the holiday upon arriving at her son’s school, where teachers at the gate asked parents to take their children back home.
Adu stated, “I drove all the way from Ijapo to Aule Road, only to be told there’s no school because of a one-day holiday declared by the government.
“I can tell you that I wasn’t even aware tomorrow (Saturday) is election day.”