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Tag: NULGE

  • Autonomy: NULGE for nationwide rally

    Autonomy: NULGE for nationwide rally

    The Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) will begin a nationwide rally at the 36 states’ Houses of Assembly to mobilise for local councils’ autonomy on  Monday.

    Its Acting General Secretary, Chuks Aguonye, said in Abuja that mobilisation would begin from Zamfara and Anambra states on August 21, and end on Thursday, September 14, in Sokoto State.

    He said the rally was to prevail on the Houses of Assembly and governors to join the National Assembly, which has already voted for local governments autonomy.

    Aguonye alleged that some governors were behind the inability of the National Assembly to pass the Local Government Autonomy bill into law.

    He said: “The two chambers of the National Assembly have passed the bill and have transmitted same in addition to other bills to states Houses of Assembly as required by law.

    “The Seventh National Assembly attempted to amend the 1999 Constitution, which it passed on the local government autonomy bill; unfortunately, it failed to get the two-third majority of the states Houses of Assembly.’’

    Aguonye continued: “Available evidence confirmed that the failure of the state assemblies to get the required two-thirds majority was attributable to the dictates and influence of governors who wanted to control councils’ funds but this time around, the union will not allow what happened in the last assembly to repeat itself.

    “In view of the above, it has become necessary for the national leadership to act fast. Therefore, at the end of an emergency NEC meeting of the union, it was agreed that rallies should be held in the 36 states capital across the country, whether or not such rallies have been held before now.

    “Accordingly, all state chapters of the union have been directed to mobilise all our members for peaceful rallies on a date assigned to them as one of the programmes slated for this campaign at this stage,” he said.

    Lamenting the absence of President Muhammadu Buhari, who, he said, promised to ensure the bill was passed into law, Aguonye revealed that the union has set aside a day within the week pray for his quick recovery.’’

  • Stop reappointment of caretaker chairmen, NULGE urges Dickson

    Stop reappointment of caretaker chairmen, NULGE urges Dickson

    The National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Bayelsa State yesterday appealed to Governor Seriake Dickson not to reconstitute the dissolved caretaker committees for council administrations.

    Speaking in Yenagoa, the state Chairman NULGE, Mr. Akpos Ekiegha, said the cost of maintaining the caretaker chairmen and the system was one of the reasons why council workers were owed arrears of salaries.

    Ekiegha asked Dickson to allow Heads of the councils to function as acting chairmen for at least eight months to enable them offset the arrears owed workers in their various councils.

    He said:  “If the Heads of LGAs are allowed to run the system as Acting Chairmen, believe you me, there will be nothing like salary arrears.”

    He cited Cross River and Delta states as examples of state running the same system.

    “If civil servants are allowed to man the system, they know their boundaries, they cannot ask for a security vote of N20m but the caretaker chairman will ask for a security vote of between N20m and N40m.

    “They (caretaker chairmen) would say there is security problem in so, so community.

    “Therefore, they will say they need N100m to go and solve the problem, but we, as civil servants, have a limit.

    “Our main focus is to pay our workers’ salaries and if any money is left, it will be intact.”

    Ekeigha said backlog of salaries had reduced to only four- and- a half months within the short period the caretaker committees were dissolved with some improvement in federal allocations.

    He further urged Dickson to fulfill his promise of taking over payment of primary school staff salaries from local government to enable teachers receive their wages regularly.

    He said nonpayment of the primary school staff by the state government was part of the reasons the council workers were currently on strike.

    Ekiegha also debunked speculation that the state government was interfering with local government funds.

  • State independent electoral commissions should be scrapped – NURGE

    State independent electoral commissions should be scrapped – NURGE

    The National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) wants the constitutional provision establishing the State Independent Electoral Commission saddled with the conduct of local government elections in the various state scrapped and the power vested on the Independent National Electoral Commission in other to save democracy at the local level.

    Addressing a news conference at the end of the National Executive Council meeting of the union in Abuja, its National President, Comrade Ibrahim Khaleel  said that even though the two chambers of the National Assembly voted in favour of local government autonomy, it was not yet time to celebrate since the union has achieved this before, only to have it scuttled by state Houses of Assembly.

    He also added that even though the bill on the scrapping of the state electoral bodies could not sail through at the House of Representatives, the union believe that the issue could still be revisited and considered during reconciliation between the two chambers.

    He also said that the union also believe that local government autonomy can not be absolute if the tenure of elected local government officials is not made a constitutional matter’ but left to the various states to determine.

    He said “We want the National Assembly to look at the possibility of revisiting the issue of deleting SIEC from the constitution because going by the provisions of Aberdeen convention which the United Nations provision on the administration of local government, participatory local government is article number one and for you to strengthen the participation democratically at local government level, SIEC must be scrapped so that INEC will be saddled with the responsibility of organizing election as and when due. It is only when we have this arrangement that democracy at the local government level will be strengthened.

    “Our position is strengthened by the Bauchi state governor who publicly admitted on national television that he had not conducted elections since he assumed office in 2015 due to paucity of funds, adding that it will only make sense for state government to hand off local government elections so that INEC will be saddled with the responsibility to do so.

    “We are canvassing for four-year tenure for local governments, but the issue has already been taken care of by the recent position of the National Assembly which proposed three years. We believe that if at the end of the day, it sailed through with a two third of state assemblies, if would have put an end to the issue of tenure for elected local government officials.”

    The union expressed appreciation to the National Assembly for adopting two of the three key bills on local government autonomy which he said “include the bill on special accounts for local government which grant local government administrators the constitutional power to manage their own accounts as against the existing policy in which governors take absolute control of local government allocation.

    “The bill on the democratic existence of funding and tenure of local government councils which prohibits constitution of caretaker leadership for local government area. Another fundamental victory if endorsed by state assemblies against the fact that many governors continue to exploit caretaker leadership of local councils to trample on the independence of local government areas.

    “The third bill on scrapping of State Independent Electoral Commission from the constitution was defeated narrowly in the House of Representatives with eleven votes short of the required 240 votes. It is our hope that in the course of reconciliation between the two chambers, this may be rectified.

    Khaleel said that the “bold step taken by the 8th Assembly has rekindled our hope that this time around, our struggle and message of local government autonomy through advocacy have taken deep roots not only in the imagination of the Nigerian masses, but even more so in the agenda and scheme of key democratic institutions.

    “This shows that the logic of autonomy for local government has matured;  an idea whose time has come. We are however by no means carried with the belief that the job has been done. We were at this juncture when. The 6th and 7th Assembly voted to support local government autonomy, but could not muster the required two third from the state Assemblies”.

    He said the attention of the union and its civil society allies will not shift to State Houses of Assemblies to ensure that they are not defeated in their determination to see a fee and unfetter d democratic local government system in the country, saying “our hope is that the State Houses of Assembly will this time around not disappoint majority of Nigerians whose joy at the passage of the bills echoed across the country, by mustering the necessary conviction to likewise vote overwhelmingly for autonomy of local government.”

    Justifying the need for local government autonomy, the NULGE President said “given the nature of our political culture, subordinating local governments to state governments via the latter controlling the finances of the former emasculated local government especially those controlled by an opposing political part.

    “Local government should, therefore, be granted autonomy in the spirit of federalism to go beyond political rhetoric. This will help to remedy one of the formidable problems of Nigeria federalism. This is why we have canvassed for the Nigerian Constitution to be amended with sufficient provisions to guarantee local government autonomy.

    “We are therefore glad that the constitutional provisions that had created the environment for their subjugation and rendered vulnerable, the local government system to the exploitative tendencies of state governors are being expunged.

    Local government autonomy should be all encompassing to impact on all the critical aspects of the administration of local communities. It is our position that local communities can only be meaningfully autonomous when popular structures, organisations and supportive values have been created to sustain, propagate and perpetuate fair representation, constant dialogue, openness of policy making, public accountability and collective self-defence”

  • NULGE prepares members for local govt autonomy

    NULGE prepares members for local govt autonomy

    The National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) has trained its staff on financial management in preparation for the autonomy of local government administration.

    Speaking at a three-day workshop with the theme: Effective financial management of trade union finance, NULGE National President   Ibrahim Khaleel said the workshop was organised to enhance the capacity of the union’s financial officers.

    His words: “At this critical time, there is lack of capacity for local council workers as a tier of government and we believe that whatever affects local government administration affects us directly because without the third tier of government, there can’t be NULGE.

    “This workshop is meant to update our knowledge on how to keep our financial records. Financial records are our collective responsibilities as a union to be rendered at the end of every year to the Registrar of Trade Union.

    “Since the inception of this leadership, the national secretariat has been rendering our financial accounts to the office every year up to the 2016 financial year.”

    He stressed that the workshop, which was conducted by Nik-Seg Consultants, provided an opportunity for all the participants to learn new skills with the aim of understanding how financial records were done and also be in tandem with new trends.

    He hinted that plans were underway to organise women and youth conference, which would  enhance the leadership skills of women and youth wings of the union.

    Khaleel insisted that training union workers in financial management was part of the administrative steps that could curtail corruption within labour movement.

    “Training in financial management is apt at this time because we believe it will not only enhance transparency and accountability, but will strengthen the development and growth of our union.

    “It is even more critical for us to update our knowledge on financial management especially now that we are canvassing for financial autonomy for local government.

    “So, before we get the financial independence of local government, local government workers need to be more prepared, more equipped and update their knowledge on financial management for the challenges ahead,” he said.

  • Kwara NULGE rejects N1b allocation

    The National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) in Kwara State has rejected the N1 billion allocated to it from the N5.12 billion Paris club refund accruing to the state.

    NULGE directed the government not to credit the councils unless it meets 75 per cent of the N5.12 billion agreed to by the governors and the Federal Government before the fund was released.

    A statement by Comrade Oloruntoba Ibikunle reads: “The state council of NULGE received with shock the release by the commissioner for Finance, on the approval of N1 billion from the second tranche of the Paris club refund, where Kwara was allocated N5.12 billion.

    “The announcement is quite unfortunate, disgraceful and  insensitive to the plight of impoverished workers who are dying due to unpaid salaries.

    “The refund is a much-awaited temporary succour by council workers, only for the announcement to turn into another devastating bombshell.

    “Other states, such as Abia, Ogun, Ekiti, among others, complied with the 75 per cent agreement reached between governors and the Federal Government to defray salaries.

    “One then wonders why Kwara will be different from others. For clarity purposes, 75 per cent of N5.12 billion amounts to N3.8 billion and not the N1 billion released to local governments.

    “The union, therefore, rejects the N1 billion offer and advises the government, in the interest of industrial peace and harmony, not to credit the local governments as this will cause embarrassment for it.”

    But the governor’s media aide, Muideen Akorede, said Ahmed will meet labour leaders when he returns from Abuja.

    According to him, the meeting will decide if all the funds should be used for council workers’ salaries or be shared among them, SUBEB workers, council and state pensioners, tertiary institutions and as subventions to government parastatals.

    He added that the meeting will also determine what proportion should go for welfare of citizens and workers.

  • Bayelsa NULGE, health workers to begin strike Monday

    MEDICAL and Health Workers’ Union of Nigeria (MHWUN) and the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) in Bayelsa State have given notice to go on strike on Monday to protest unpaid salaries.

    The unions ordered all council workers to close their secretariats and health facilities indefinitely until the authorities settled their salary arrears.

    They lamented some councils were owed over eight months, while others were owed 15 months.

    The unions disagreed with the state for shifting the payment of  primary school teachers to local governments.

    They said councils lacked the capacity to take on this responsibility and appealed to the government not to burden councils.

    The unions urged the state to hand over infrastructural projects to councils with counterpart funds from the Federal Government and donor agencies.

    The workers issued a six-point communiqué, after their joint executive council meeting in Yenagoa on Thursday, signed by state Chairman of MHWUN James Adama on behalf of other unions.

    The unions faulted the imposition of 100 per cent primary schools’ salary on councils, adding that this contradicts the policy of successive administrations and the 4th schedule of the reviewed 1999 Constitution.

    The communiqué reads: “The joint councils re-echoed appeals by the Nigeria Union of Teachers, Nigeria Labour Congress and other critical stakeholders that the state government should take the lion’s share of the payment of primary school staff.

    ‘’We call on Governor Seriake Dickson to graciously take over 100 per cent payment of primary school teachers to allow councils to survive and pay salaries of their staff regularly.

    ‘’We further wish to remind Governor Dickson of the 1999 Constitution, as amended (2011) 4th schedule, Section 7 (2) functions of a LGAs, which is participatory in the provision and maintenance of primary, adult and vocational education.

    ‘’That the alternate salary payment between staff of the councils and staff of primary schools, a month after another, is still half salary in disguise. We roundly condemn this trend, because not only are council workers true citizens of this state, but also the governor has since made a pronouncement to prohibit half-salary payment in the state.’’

    They urged the government to release, without delay, the balance of the first tranche of the Paris/London club refunds of N600 millionm due to councils from additional funds got by the state.

    ‘’The joint councils  further appeal to government not to forcefully and unlawfully reduce councils’ workforce to accommodate primary school teachers wage bills as such may be visited with protest by over 14,000 council workers in Yenagoa.

    ‘’Consequently, in view of the hopelessness, despondency and sustained sufferings of workers in the councils, the joint council hereby unanimously resolves to resume the suspended indefinite strike with effect from Monday, July 24, 2017.

    ‘Accordingly, all LGA workers are directed to close all the secretariats of the councils and health facilities across the LGAs and comply with this directive indefinitely until the regular payment of salaries and the settlement of arrears are resolved.

    ‘’The council workers in Bayelsa since 2015 to date have suffered untold economic and social hardships due to irregular payment of their salaries ranging from eight and a  half months to 15 months as of June 2017.’’

  • NULGE celebrates Ayade for payment of salaries to workers

    NULGE celebrates Ayade for payment of salaries to workers

    The National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) has commended  Cross River State Governor Ben Ayade for payment of salaries to local government workers.

    NULGE National President  Ibrahim kheel said in Abuja that while states like Bayelsa where owing Local Government  workers about 10-16 months salaries with Kogi owing 15months and Delta 8-14months respectively, Cross River has remained steadfast in its payment of Local Government workers.

    Mr Ibrahim other states owing salaries as follows : Kaduna 12 months, Oyo 3-11 months, Edo 10 months, Abia 5-9 months, kwara 2-9 months, Benue 9 months and Nasarrawa 7 months.

    According to him, other states owing Local Government staff are: Ondo and Ekiti states 6 months each, Zamfara not implementing minimum wage, Adamawa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom Ebony, Plateau owing 4 months each, Taraba and FCT Abuja 3 montus each while Osun has been paying half salaries for 24 months.

    The union noted that Ekiti has refused to remit union dues for the past 9 months and Ogun has not also remitted it’s deduction for 7 months.

    The NULGE President further disclosed that only 700 workers were owed between 1-3 months in Cross River State and that this had to do with technical hitches during staff verification exercise.

    “It is based on the above I want to say that Governor Ben Ayade’s government is actually working compared to the aforementioned 23 states. Cross River State is the state with the least owed local government employees.”

    “Out of thousands of local government employees, only about 700 are owed between 1-3 months salaries. Please I think Ayade deserves a hand clap,” Ibrahim added.

  • NULGE: 22 states, FCT owing council workers

    NULGE: 22 states, FCT owing council workers

    Debt computation 

    1. Bayelsa State (10 to 16 months)
    2. Kogi (seven to 15 months)
    3. Delta State (eight to 14 months)
    4. Kaduna (12 months)
    5. Oyo (three to 11 months)
    6. Edo (10 months)
    7. Abia (five to nine months)
    8. Kwara (two to nine months)
    9. Benue (nine months)
    10. Nasarawa (seven months)
    11. Ondo (six months)
    12. Ekiti (six months)
    13. Imo (six months)
    14. Zamfara (not implementing minimum wage)
    15. Adamawa (four months)
    16. Rivers (four months)
    17. Akwa Ibom (four months)
    18. Ebonyi (four months)
    19. Plateau (four months)
    20. (Taraba (three months)
    21. FCT (three months)
    22. Osun (paying half salaries for 24 months)
    23. Enugu (few workers owed few months).

    TWENTY-two states and the Federal Capital Territory have failed to pay local government workers’ salaries for between one and 16 months, the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) said yesterday.

    The union said 14 states – Lagos, Ogun, Kano, Katsina, Jigawa, Sokoto, Kebbi, Bauchi, Borno, Yobe, Gombe, Cross River, Niger and Anambra – were up to date in payment.

    In a statement issued in Abuja, the union urged governors of the indebted states to offset the workers’ salaries and other allowances with the second tranche of the Paris Club loan refund.

    It warned that failure to do so, its members would be forced to shut down the country’s local government councils.

    NULGE National President Ibrahim Khaleel cautioned governors against diverting the second tranche of the Paris Club loan refund, but use it to pay the workers’ entitlements.

    The union vowed to mobilise its members to shut down local governments.

    A computation by the union revealed that Bayelsa State was leading in indebtedness to local council workers with between 10 to 16 months, followed by Kogi (between seven to 15 months); Delta State (eight to 14 months); Kaduna, 12 months; Oyo, three to 11 months; Edo, 10 months; Abia, five to nine months; Kwara, two to nine months; Benue, nine months and Nasarawa (seven months).

    Others are: Ondo, Ekiti, Imo with six months; Zamfara (not implementing minimum wage), Adamawa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Ebonyi, Plateau – owing four months; Taraba and FCT (three months).

    Osun State has been paying half salaries for 24 months and few workers were owed few months in Enugu.

    The union added that Ekiti State has refused to remit union dues for the past nine months. Ogun State, it added, has not remitted its deduction for seven months.

    It said 700 workers were owed for between one to three months in Cross River State.

    Khaleel, however, said the union was aware that some governors were already claiming that the amounts released were not in conformity with the published figures.

    He said: “We want to state in strong term that no governor should either divert or tamper with the fund. This should be an avenue where the backlog of arrears of salaries owed the local government workers and some other welfare packages such as leave bonus, arrears of promotion benefit, arrears of annual increment and non-implementation of minimum wage, most especially in Zamfara State; are resolved and paid.

    “We, therefore, use this medium to appeal passionately to the state governors to use this second tranche of Paris Club loan refund to clear the backlog arrears of outstanding salaries owed local government workers across the country to ameliorate the untold hardship they are passing through.

    “We want to make it categorically clear that our union will not tolerate a situation where any state governor will hide under any guise to deny local government workers their legitimate salaries and allowances.

    “In view of the above, NULGE will not hesitate to mobilise our teeming members and shut down all the local governments across the country, if the governors attempt to divert the fund meant for the payment of arrears of salaries and other entitlements. A word is enough for the wise.”

  • 22 states, FCT owing council workers’ salaries – NULGE

    22 states, FCT owing council workers’ salaries – NULGE

    The Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) said on Monday that 22 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have failed to pay local government staff salaries for period ranging between one and 16 months.

    The union, however, said 14 states including Lagos, Ogun, Kano, Katsina, Jigawa, Sokoto, Kebbi, Bauchi, Borno, Yobe, Gombe, Cross River, Niger and Anambra were up to day in the payment of local government workers’ entitlement.

    In a statement made available to journalists in Abuja, NULGE asked governors of the affected states to offset the salaries and other allowances of local government workers with the second tranche of the Paris Club loan refund released to them, warning that it will be forced to shut down all local government councils in the country if the state governments fail to pay the entitlements.

    The National President of the union, Ibrahim Khaleel, warned state governors not to divert or tamper with the second tranche of Paris Club loan refund but use it to offset the entitlement of workers.

    The union vowed to mobilize its teeming members and shut down all the local governments across the country.

    A computation by NULGE revealed that Bayelsa State leads in indebtedness chart by owing up to 16 months workers’ salaries, followed by Kogi (15), Delta (14), Kaduna (12), Oyo (11) and Edo (10).

     

  • No plan to sack council workers, say Akeredolu, NULGE

    No plan to sack council workers, say Akeredolu, NULGE

    The Ondo State government yesterday debunked a report that it had sacked 600 local government workers attached to traditional rulers across the state.

    A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Segun Ajiboye, said the 600 workers were ad hoc workers integrated into local government service and upgraded into the workforce.

    It noted that the removal of the workers’ names from the remittal did not affect the payment of their salaries nor their status as workers on their places of assignment.

    The statement said the government’s decision was informed by the need to make the workers more dedicated to their duties and to the traditional rulers they work for.

    It said: “The present administration, led by Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, is committed to make welfare of workers its priority. There is no plan to sack workers in the state.”

    Also, the state’s branch of the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) said no council worker was sacked.

    A statement by its spokesman Victor Omodara said the names of palace workers were only moved from the central e-payment (Remita)to various local government areas to be paid alongside that of traditional rulers.

    It said the decision would not only check the “lacklustre” attitudes of palace workers but also bring back the dignity of monarchs to have control over their workers, who the government said are directly responsible to them in their domains.