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Tag: Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE)

  • APC, ALGON slam NULGE over demands

    APC, ALGON slam NULGE over demands

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) and the factional Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) have berated the leadership of Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) over conditions and demands attached to resumption of workers at Osun State councils on January 5.

    The Nation reports that after 11 months of strike, NULGE has directed its members to resume amid the control crisis of local government councils, which APC and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lay claim to.

    NULGE President Kehinde Ogungbangbe had listed the demands and conditions, saying security operatives must protect his members and must repel APC excos from offices.

    He added that their tenure had expired and they lacked the right to allocate funds of the councils.

    APC through its Director of Media, Chief Kola Olabisi, accused Ogungbangbe of being needlessly involved in partisan politics, saying they embarked on sympathy strike with Governor Ademola Adeleke and abandoned their jobs because of political reasons.

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    He queried that “when has the Osun State NULGE assumed the role of the courts to interpret and choose the judgment of the court to obey or not, which has turned it to a grossly partisan and a meddlesome interloper in the estimation of the right-thinking members of the society?

    “Anyone with hindsight does not need rocket science to suspect and conclude that Osun NULGE under the pliable Ogungbangbe is a willing tool in the hands of Governor Adeleke and his cohorts in their eventual resolve to end their 10-month-old abandonment of their work places.”

    He said: “We view the conditions rolled out by Ogungbangbe for the resumption announced as contemptuous, criminal, unacceptable, annoying, illegal and beyond their roles as public servants, as they are unknown to the civil service procedures.”

    ALGON Chairman, Samuel Abiodun, challenged security operatives to hold NULGE president responsible, should there be any breach of peace and breakdown of law and order during resumption.

    He said: ‘’The monetary-induced NULGE executives should desist from any act capable of undermining the peace, unity and tranquillity that the people of the grassroots have been enjoying since the reinstatement of the council chairmen and councillors.

    “We are aware of the shenanigans being orchestrated by the embattled NULGE president since our reinstatement, as he has shown clearly to the whole world his unchecked partisanship and bias. As we reaffirm our commitment to peace, unity, harmony, cohesion and stability across the councils, we want to put our security agencies on the alert in case there is breakdown of law and order.”

  • Kogi workers now to receive 54% of salary

    Local Government workers in Kogi State have applauded the state government for its decision to increase their monthly percentage salary from 30 per cent to 54 per cent with effect from this month.

    The state chapters of the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN), Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) and the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) gave the commendation in a statement in Lokoja on Sunday.

    It said that the decision to raise the bar was commendable and urged the government to take cognizance of the percentages of salary yet to be paid.

    The statement signed by Mr Onu Edoka, Mr Tade Adeyemi and Mr Thomas Ayodele, state Chairmen of MHWUN, NULGE and NUT respectively urged the government to continue this gesture until 100 per cent salary payment is regularized.

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    “Government should include in the payroll the names of all the staff and teachers that have been cleared but are to be captured on the payroll, while the case of the uncleared undergoing review should be resolved without further delay,“ the statement said.

    The workers promised to reciprocate the government‘s gesture by continuos loyalty, support and dedication to duty.

    It would be recalled that workers in the local government sector in the state have been receiving between 22 per cent and 30 per cent of their monthly salaries for more than three years.

    Government was also charged to sustain the existing industrial harmony in the state by constantly engaging in dialogue with critical stakeholders.

  • Unpaid salaries: Ekiti LG workers begin strike Aug 23

    Apparently angered by Governor Ayodele Fayose’s alleged lukewarm attitude towards the payment of arrears of their salaries, local government workers in Ekiti State are proceeding on an indefinite strike.

    The local government staff expressed dismay that they are still being owed seven month arrears of salaries and no serious efforts were being made to offset the debt.

    Acting under the aegis of the Ekiti State Council of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), the workers said the industrial action will commence from Thursday,  August 23.

    Their decision to stay away from work was reached at an emergency NULGE State Executive Council (SEC) meeting held on Friday at the union secretariat along Iyin Road,  Ado Ekiti.

    In a communique issued at the end of the meeting a copy of which was made available to The Nation on Sunday, Ekiti NULGE condemned Fayose’s intention to employ 2,000 new workers when those who are already in the system are being owed arrears of salaries.

    It reads: “The NULGE, Ekiti State Branch, at its meeting held on Friday, 17th August,  2018, wish to remind the government that out of the four demands of the union,  in its communique issued on 25th July,  2018, only one of them was partially attended to; which is less than 5 per cent of our total demands.

    “The union wishes to reiterate that in spite of our agitation,  the government only paid up to December 2017 salary leaving seven (7) months yet unpaid.

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    “It is evident now that the government is insensitive to the workers’ plight because the union has it on good authority that the government is planning to add to the burden of the local governments by recruiting more hands to the teaching sector.

    “For the sake of clarity,  the union has nothing against the recruitment into SUBEB, but on condition that all salaries and other emoluments owed local government workers be paid before the commencement of the payment of the newly recruited personnel.

    “In view of the above, the State Executive Council (SEC) in session therefore directs all members of the union to stay at home indefinitely from Thursday, 23rd August, 2018 until further directives by the union.”

     

     

  • NULGE suspends indefinite strike in Adamawa

    NULGE suspends indefinite strike in Adamawa

    The Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees ( NULGE ), Adamawa Chapter, has suspended the indefinite strike it embarked upon to press for the payment of backlog of salaries owed local government workers.

    We recall that the workers on Tuesday embarked on the indefinite strike to protest non-payment of outstanding five months salary arrears and four years leave grant.

    Speaking to NAN on the suspension, Adamawa NULGE President, Hammanjumba Gatugel, said the strike was suspended following the intervention of the Local Government Service Commission.

    “We suspended the strike following the intervention of the Local Government Service Commission and the commissioner; you know they are our custodians, we want to give them the benefit of doubt,” Gatugel said.

    He lauded the solidarity and maturity shown by the workers during the strike and assured the workers of the union’s commitment to continue to fight for their rights and welfare.

    NAN

  • Why we agitate for Autonomy – NULGE President

    Why we agitate for Autonomy – NULGE President

    The Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) Wednesday said the aim of the agitation for local government autonomy is to free the third tier of government from the control of state governments.

    It’s National President, Ibrahim Khaleel said, if the autonomy is granted by the States Houses of Assembly, it will benefit not only them, but all Nigerians.

    Khaleel who led NULGE members to the Ondo House of Assembly urged members of the hallow chamber to support the passage of the bill whenever it is transmitted to them from the National Assembly.

    The NULGE boss who was represented by the National Publicity Secretary of the union, Comrade Emmanuel Fashe, said granting autonomy to the local government will further strengthen democracy in the country.

    According to him, “If you want to curb insecurity, we need autonomy. If we want employment for our teaming youths, vote yes to autonomy. God has placed you in this today so that your name could be among of those who voted for the freedom of local government. We want you to be part of history this time. ”

    NULGE members across the state, had on converged on Akure, the state capital, to throw their weight behind local government autonomy in the country.

    Members of the union across the 18 local government areas of the state moved around the state capital in their thousands.

    Marched through Oyemekun road, through Arakale road, displaying placards with various inscriptions as they sang solidarity songs to press home their demands before heading to the state House of Assembly complex.

    The rally which was supported by leaders of the Nigeria Labour Congress, (NLC) Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Judiciary Staff of Nigeria (JUSUN) was organised to lobby the lawmakers at the state Assembly for the smooth passage of the bill.

    The NLC President, Ayuba Waba represented by Ondo state chairman, comrade Bosede Daramola who noted that the agitations for the local government economy had been on for decades and nearly actualised some years ago but was aborted midway, said labour movement in the country was fully in support of the local government autonomy.

    Ondo state NULGE President, Dr Bunmi Eniayewu insisted that the local government autonomy will aid rapid development and bring about continuous capacity building for effective leadership, hoping that the lawmakers would approve the autonomy in the constitution amendment.

    The Speaker, State Assembly, David Oleyelogun, commended the NULGE leadership and stressed the need for a functional local government system.

    Oleyelogun who was represented by Chairman House Committee on Information, Olamide George said, “We have listened to you, and what is important to us is to support your agitation.”

  • Bayelsa urges LG workers to end strike, pledges to clear salary arrears

    Bayelsa urges LG workers to end strike, pledges to clear salary arrears

    The Bayelsa Government has pledged to settle the 14-months salary arrears it owed local government workers currently on strike in the state.

    The government, however, appealed to the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) to suspend the ongoing strike by its members.

    The state Commissioner for Local Government Administration, Dr. Agatha Goma, made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Yenagoa on Tuesday.

    He said that ending the strike was necessary in view of steps taken by the government to address the workers grievances.

    “The labour leaders have made their point and government has heard them loud and clear,’’ she said.

    Goma explained that the authorities of the councils were working with the government to facilitate the payment.

    She said that NULGE’s stance on accountability, probity and transparency in the handling of the finances of the councils in the state reinforced the position of government.

    NAN reports that NULGE had in a statement on Aug. 7, backed local government autonomy in the ongoing constitutional review and lauded the state government for not touching local councils’ Federal allocations.

    Goma noted that the union was on the same page with the state government on the accumulated salary arrears owed its members.

    According to her, the arrears accumulated not because of mismanagement or deliberate ploy to punish workers, but due to drastic reduction in the councils’ allocation.

    The commissioner explained that increment in the allocation to the councils for the month of July gave the government leverage to pay up to three months salary arrears.

    Goma said that government had demonstrated commitment at ensuring that all agreements reached with NULGE were implemented.

    She said that such commitment was demonstrated when the government used part of its Paris Club refund to pay workers salary.

    The commissioner, also spoke on delay in the payment of primary school teachers in Ogbia Local Government, saying the affected teachers will receive their salaries before the end of the week.

    She also said that the government remained committed to ensuring adequate security in the state to boost economic activities.

    “But for the investment in security, we could not have witnessed the relative peace we now enjoy, which has created a friendly environment for oil exploration.”

    Goma urged NULGE to work with the local councils to resolve issues of indiscipline, ghost workers and over blotted wage bill.

  • NUGLE appeals to Aregbesola to support LGA autonomy

    NUGLE appeals to Aregbesola to support LGA autonomy

    The Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), has appealed to the Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola to support Local Government Autonomy.

    Mr Ibrahim Khaleel, NULGE President made the appeal at a news conference on Monday in Abuja.

    Khaleel said that this was imperative as the governor’s support was necessary for granting the Local Government Autonomy.

    He expressed sadness over what he described as “misconceptions on Local Government Autonomy” by the governor

    He said the Osun State governor had come to symbolise himself as the most formidable foe against the freedom of local governments in Nigeria.

    He said that the Aregbesola was defending his position when he said local governments should not have autonomy in his well-publicised lecture during the 2017 NULGE Week of Osun State Chapter.

    “Ogbeni Aregbesola erroneously declared that local governments do not deserve to be autonomous because the Yoruba wars, particularly the Kiriji war, was fought for federalism recognised only two tiers of government; namely the federal and the state.

    “This is a distortion of history. The historical fact is that the popular Kiriji war was fought because the Ijesha and Ekiti people did not want the regime of recklessness imposed on them by Ibadan warlords.

    “For historical records, local administration and empire buildings started with Yoruba civilisation. Local governments have been in existence before the Berlin Conference of 1885 to 1886 when the entire area of Nigeria was partitioned to Britain for colonial exploitation.

    “In fact, when the Northern and Southern protectorates of Nigeria were amalgamated in 1914, local government administration, as we now address it, had flourished very well in all parts of Nigeria.

    “The Clifford Constitution of 1922 did not talk of any Federal or State Government; yet till 1945, local administration in form of local governments flourished in every inch of that era of colonial Nigeria, such that government was receiving the patronage of people and it was providing services.

    “Therefore, the reference to Kiriji war as a protest not to recognise local government as a tier of government did not exist in reality. It only existed in the imagination of Aregbesola.”

    The NULGE president, however, applauded the leadership and members of 8th National Assembly for overwhelmingly adopting two of the three key bills on local government autonomy.

    He said that NULGE hoped that the two chambers would reconcile their differences on the issue of scrapping State Independent Electoral Commission(SIEC).

    He faulted the belief from some quarters that Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should be solely responsibility for the conduct of Local Government elections across Nigeria.

    Khaleed said that NULGE and the Nigeria Union of Teachers had settle their differences on the issue of LGA autonomy.

    “NUT is part and parcel of the National Action Committee responsible for actualisation of LGA autonomy,” he said.

    He said that the three years tenure proposed by the National Assembly for LGA elected officers was a welcome idea.

  • Bayelsa denies owing LG workers 16 months’ salary arrears

    Bayelsa denies owing LG workers 16 months’ salary arrears

    The Bayelsa Government said on Thursday in Yenagoa that it was not owing council workers 16 months’ salary arrears as claimed by the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE).

    NULGE had in a statement issued on Monday listed Bayelsa and Kogi as states with the highest level of indebtedness to council workers.

    Its National President, Mr. Ibrahim Khaleel, alleged that Bayelsa owed between 10 and 16 months while Kogi owed between seven and 15 months to lead the list of 23 states owing salaries.

    Dr. Agatha Goma, Bayelsa Commissioner of Local Government Administration, in a statement described NULGE’s claims as false and misleading.

    Goma said that the indebtedness to council workers in Bayelsa stood at nine and half months.

    “The claim is not true. The local government councils in the state owe nine and half months’ salary with the exception of Ogbia Local Government Council, whose debt is 10 and half months in salary arrears.

    “This regrettable situation is not deliberate as no responsible government will intentionally deny its workforce their legitimate rights to salary as at when due.

    “The failure of local government councils to meet their financial obligations arose principally because of the unexpected economic recession.
    “The recession has greatly affected the economic fortune of the country as well as the monthly allocation to the local government coffers and indeed all tiers of government,” Goma said.

    The commissioner said that the government was in a dilemma of whether to `right-size’ the workforce or continue to manage the situation until there was an improvement.

    “As a responsible government that is conscious of its social responsibility, rather than throwing people into the employment market, the state government will continue to seek workable avenue to ameliorate the delicate situation.

    “The local government component of the Paris Club loan refund also came handy in effort at assisting the councils to meet their obligation.

    “The state government has also provided financial support to help out the councils pay the arrears of salary,” Goma said.

    She said that the government remained committed to ensuring that the outstanding salaries were offset, adding that various memoranda have been signed with relevant unions on payment of all pending arrears.

     

  • Contributory Pension: NLC condemns bill exempting law enforcement agencies

    Contributory Pension: NLC condemns bill exempting law enforcement agencies

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Thursday in Abuja condemned the pending bill to exempt military and law enforcement agencies from the National Contributory Pension Scheme.

    Mr Ayuba Wabba, NLC President, said this when he led a delegation to the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) to know their achievements and challenges, in continuation of his “Meet the affiliate Tour”.

    According to him, we condemn in very strong terms the current bill to remove all our military and other law enforcement agencies from the contributory pension scheme.

    He added that this would lead to the entire collapse of the pension scheme, adding that because presently even with the core civil service, we have a liability of over N6 billion.

    “This was a figure that was harmonised between the Senate, House of Representative, Minister of Finance, organised Labour and then the Minister of Budget and Planning.

    “The liability as of today of earn allowance of workers and pensioners including deductions stood at over 600 billion, so it is wrong if this bill is allowed to pass through,” he said

    Wabba said that if the military and the law enforcement agencies were removed from the contributory pension it would allow the resources to come from the central coffers.

    He noted that if this was done, it was obvious that the entire contributory pension scheme would then collapse.

    The NLC President, however, said that people assume that over 73 per cent of the entire pension funds which stood at over 6 trillion was already being borrowed through Federal Government Bond and Treasury Bills.

    He said that with the new development if the pending bill was allowed to go through there would be a major shock to the economy, therefore, the entire pension contributory scheme would surely collapse.

    According to him, it will be in the interest of the entire workers if the House of Representatives take an honourable look at the issue.

    “I do not think that they know the implication, but we have studied it because presently the pension arrangement is that 60 percent of the contributions is from the private sector employees, only 40 percent are from the Federal Government or public employees.

    “Presently only 10 states had keyed into the contributory pension scheme that is actually funding, therefore, you can see the very precarious situation that is in place.

    “This bill certainly at this point in time is not desirable and organised labour has called for the withdrawal of this bill because it will collapse the entire contributory pension system,” he added.

    Wabba, however, commended the House of Representatives for the proposed bill for the regular review of the minimum wage at least every five years.

    He noted that the review of the minimum every five years was actually in the collective bargaining system when the minimum wage was signed into law in 2011.

    He added that it was mutually agreed that after every five years there should be a review but this was not captured in the law.

    “We want to commend the progressive stand of the house in making this provision in the law because this is also what applied in many economics,” he said.

    Wabba while commending NUGLE members for their support, called for greater synergy.

    He said that the NLC would put up strategies in handing the challenges faced by the Union.

    The Labour leader added that NLC would organised quarterly activities to strengthen its affiliates.

    Speaking, Mr Ibrahim Khaleed, NUGLE President said that the union was facing a lot of challenges, which includes the refusal of Akwa Ibom state government to pay check up dues.

    Khaleed noted that others are the non-payment of local government workers’ salaries, poor relationships with leaders, lack of capacity building, non-implementation of N18,000 minimum wage by Zamfara State Government.

    “I want to say that the Zamfara state government still pays N6,000 as the minimum wage for its workers, which does not suit the present day realities,” he said.

  • NULGE insists on local government autonomy

    The Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), said it would continue to advocacy the autonomy of local governments till its aim was in order to free local governments from the control of state governments.

    Mr Ibrahim Khaleel, NULGE President, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Wednesday in Abuja.

    According to him, the campaign will be a nationwide exercise, first at zonal levels in Lafiya, Calabar, Lagos, Kano, Enugu and Jalingo with grand finale at Abuja.

    “Then all the 36 state branches and 774 LGCs will conduct similar exercise in their domains under the supervision of an assigned National Officer.

    “We will mobilise to engage governors and other stakeholders in the country toward the freedom of the local government councils,” he said.

    He said that if resources from the Federal Government were given to local governments directly, the people at the grassroots would benefit greatly because the councils were the closest to the people.

    “We remain committed to our demand for autonomous council areas and we will continue to air our voices until something is done.”

    According to NULGE boss, autonomy of local governments remains ‘’the cry of Nigerians to see that they benefit directly from development at the grassroots’’.

    He said that if achieved, the autonomy of local governments would also address a situation whereby funds meant for operations of local governments get to them unhindered.

    Khaleel, however, urged Federal Government to look into the realisation of the autonomy of the councils for the people at the grassroots to benefit maximmaly from their services.