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Tag: NULGE

  • NULGE seeks scrapping of SIECs

    THE National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) has demanded the abolition of states Independent National Electoral Commission (SIECs), saying the bodies are being used by state governors to deny the people their right to decide who should govern them.

    Its National President, Ibrahim Khaleel, who spoke at a meeting of NULGE Think Tank on the agitation of the union, said the much sought after local governments’ autonomy will help in addressing the growing insecurity and youth restiveness in the country.

    Khaleel said the provision “establishing the SIECs must be expunge from our constitution because it is not working and is, therefore, no longer useful in the current democratic dispensation”.

    He said: “That is the instrument state government are using to depriving Nigerians their right to participate democratically in electing their representatives at the local government level. Our position has been very clear, local government must be democratise in line with Aberdeen declaration and that is the global best practices as far as local government administration is concern.

    “The situation whereby a governor of a state decide on his own to seat on the democratic right of citizens by way of handpicking his rookies  and stooges and appoint them as caretakers or sole administrators or whatever name they use, sincerely is not acceptable.

    “It is undemocratic and an unprogressive posture that has been the main issue that disconnect people from the inclusive arrangement that local government was design to achieve”.

    Hailing the efforts of the two chambers of the National Assembly in the ongoing constitutional reform, Khaleel condemned state governors and state houses of  assembly for their opposition to local government autonomy.

    “Our major problem is with the state assemblies and the governors and that was why this think-tank as a means of strategies to put much activities, agitation and campaign on local government autonomy. And as you are aware, we visited state governors and state assemblies, some are against while some in support. So, this meeting will analyse the opinions of those that are against freeing local government and articulate our position to move ahead for the success of this exercise”.

     

  • Monarch backs NULGE’s call for autonomy

    Monarch backs NULGE’s call for autonomy

    The Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi has supported the Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) over the call for Local Government autonomy, saying the traditional institution was  ready to support every move by the union.

    Speaking during a courtesy visit to his palace, Oba Ogunwusi said the advocacy by the union through the traditional rulers was long overdue.

    “Your advocacy is long overdue. You should have engaged the traditional institutions to right the wrong because we are all interested in development of the entire population. The closest government to the people are the local government authorities.

    “I assure you we will work together to get it to a logical conclusion. This is because you are being denied your right and you keep quiet, it is not right. If all the 774 local governments can be properly funded, development will spread faster than envisaged,” he concluded.

    National President of NULGE, Comrade Ibrahim Khaleel, said the union has embarked upon nationwide advocacy campaign due to the poor state of Local Government administration across the country.

    According to him, “We are here to pay homage and take the advocacy to palaces and royal fathers and we are starting from here. The role of this palace in the country shows that it is not by accident or sheer coincidence, but deliberately chosen baring in mind how close the palace is to the people and God we all serve.

    “You will agree, your majesty, that the purpose of creating local governments has been defeated and we think as workers we must make people know. We want better constitutional reforms to make local governments perform better.

    “The process and the fund meant for local government administration have been hijacked and it is time for all Nigerians to come together and canvass through a peaceful process for a better local government administration.”

    Comrade Khaleel argued that local government administration has suffered in the hands of governors due to the lacuna in the 1999 Constitution as amended.

    He emphasised five major areas where he sought for Oba Ogunwusi’s support, which include: expungement of state independent national electoral commission and allows only the INEC to conduct state elections; expungement of constitutional provision that established state/local governments joint accounts.

  • Delta NULGE: we’ll ground govt activities, if…

    Members of the Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) in Delta State have said they will shut down government activities, if the Ifeanyi Okowa administration fails to pay them over 12 months’ salaries.

    The workers have started a protest in each of the local government area because of non-payment of their salaries.

    They said the government was owing between eight and 13 months.

    The protesters marched on the streets of Warri yesterday when Warri South Local Government Area staged its protest.

    The protest grounded activities at the secretariat of the local government.

    The council chairman Mofe Edema and other administrative members fled from their offices when the protesters got to the secretariat.

    NULGE’s State Treasurer Ogberetine Obatare said the workers would continue the action until the government paid their salary arrears.

    Obatare said the protest would go round the 25 local government areas to compel the government to pay their salary arrears.

    He said: “We are protesting from council-to-council to draw public and relevant authorities’ attention to the untold hardship our members are passing through over salary arrears.

    “We want our money. We say no to continued excuses. If after taking the protest to the 25 council areas, the state government still refuses to act accordingly, we will have no other choice than to ground activities of government in Delta State.”

    Addressing reporters, Johnson Somunvie, an aide to the State NULGE Chairman, Zico Okwudi, said: “Everybody knows there is recession. But local government workers must not be treated as if they were the cause of the recession.

    “The Federal Government and the states pay their workers. But local governments cannot pay a single worker in over one year in some of the councils. And it is difficult to comprehend why Delta would rank among the lagging states in the mounting council salary arrears, given its position in revenue inflow.

    “We can trace the issue down to the joint allocation between the state and local governments. We say so because when the money comes, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa uses executive fiat to deploy council shares in paying primary school teachers 100 per cent. And the councils’ core workers are left with nothing. How long shall we continue to swallow this bitter pill?”

  • NULGE begins nationwide protests over autonomy

    NULGE begins nationwide protests over autonomy

    The National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) has begun its nationwide protests to drum up support for local government autonomy. The union has scheduled a rally in each of the six geo-political zones and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    To NULGE, the protests are a subtle advocacy to create awareness and achieve local government autonomy.

    NULGE, an advocate of local government autonomy, said  it was imperative for it to take the protests to the doorstep of the Houses of Assembly, which are critical to  constitution amendment.

    During the Seventh National Assembly, many state assemblies voted against local government autonomy. The proposal for local government autonomy lapsed since two-thirds of the 36 states did not endorse it.

    NULGE President, Ibrahim Kahleel, said the union began the protest in Nasarawa State in the Northcentral Zone last week.

    He said the advocacy became necessary to ensure that the local governments are politically, financially and administratively autonomous in line with global standard practice.

    Khaleel said the campaign, through the protest, had become one of the most viable options for Nigerians, especially the local government workers, to draw attention to what could be described as the re-colonisation of the people.

    “This rally is expected to end with a meeting with the members of Lagos State House of Assembly, where the union will present its position and make submission to the Speaker. The union will be canvassing major amendments to the constitution, which the union believes will rescue the local government from the state governors and underdevelopment.

    “NULGE wants all the contradictory provisions of the 1999 constitution (as amended) that allow for the confusion and manipulation of local government system by state governments erased,” he said.

    He said the union would insist on strict observance of the provision of Section 7, especially the provisions on elected councils.

    He said: “The constitution should be reviewed such that a provision caters for structure, functions, composition, establishment, funding, status and other matters that affect local governments, rather than delegating it to the state governments or Houses of Assembly.”

    He urged President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene in the realisation of local government autonomy.

    According to him, one of the demands at the United Nations (UN) meeting was that the local governments across the world be made to be autonomous in line with the democratic principles.

    He said: ‘’Therefore, we have agreed to protest across the six geopolitical zones at the designated centres.

    ”Those other provisions that contradict full autonomy should be expunged from the constitution to avoid the serious contradictions. For instance, the structure, finance, establishment, composition and functions of LGAs should not be vested in the state governments or state Houses of Assembly, but in the Constitution in view of Section 5 that proposes vesting executive powers of the local government council in the chairman.

    “The Constitutional provision on the existence and functions of the State Independent Electoral Commission should be expunged completely in the 1999 constitution because they have become the instruments of anti-democratic practices by state governments,’’ hr added.

  • NULGE honours Ikpeazu

    NULGE honours Ikpeazu

    The  National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) in Abia State has awarded Governor Okezie Ikpeazu the “Distinquished and Performing Friend of the union” award for his favourable disposition to local government employees.

    Speaking in Umuahia, the state capital, at a  solidarity rally and award ceremony, Ikpeazu thanked the union and described the award as the biggest he has received since he assumed office.

    He said he was aware that NULGE was not given to unnecessary praise singing, adding that the union must have come up with the award after due consideration.

    The governor said the decision to conduct council elections , despite the economic downturn, was to deepen democracy at the grassroots.

    Ikpeazu said the only way to raise a virile workforce was to ensure that workers have  requisite qualifications.

    “The only way to raise a virile workforce is to look at the qualification of the workers. I do not want to send anybody to the labour market, that is not my intention.”

  • 1,400 LG workers sacked in Imo – NULGE

    1,400 LG workers sacked in Imo – NULGE

    One thousand and four hundred local governments workers in Imo were sacked last week, according to the state’s chapter of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE).

    The chairman, Mr Ndubuisi Uchehara, while confirming the sack on Thursday in Owerri, declared, however, that the union would not confront the state government over it.

    “As a responsible union, we only act when the rights of legitimate worker are infringed upon.

    “When you are an absentee worker, labour cannot protect you when you are visited with the right punishment.

    “When you reside in Abuja and draw monthly salaries from a local government in Imo, such persons are not worth NULGE’s time and efforts.

    “But there are also cases of people, who were wrongfully treated; the union is already handling such cases with Gov. Rochas Okorocha,’’ he said.

    He expressed optimism that people with proven cases of injustice would have their situations addressed.

    “Such persons should not panic; we shall put in everything to resolve their matters,” he said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that the sack axe hit workers from across the 27 Local Government Areas of the state

  • NULGE plans protest over autonomy

    NULGE plans protest over autonomy

    The Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) will soon embark on a nationwide protest in support of the ongoing constitutional amendment by the National Assembly to grant autonomy to local government areas (LGAs).
    Its President, Ibrahim Khaleel Abdulkadir, told The Nation, that the protest is one of the advocacy activities mapped out to ensure that the LGAs were autonomous in line with the global best practice.
    “One of the demands at the United Nations meeting was that LGAs across the world should be made autonomous in line with democratic principles,” he said.
    Against this backdrop, the NULGE leader said the union leadership had agreed to protest across the six geopolitical zones of the country at the designated centres.
    The centres include Calabar (Southsouth); Enugu (Southeast); Osogbo (Southwest); Ilorin (Northcentral); and Jalingo (Northeast).
    He urged the union at the state and LGA levels to conduct similar protests, adding that the union would collaborate with the National Assembly to ensure LGA autonomy became a reality.
    Meanwhile, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, has said the House is working to grant financial autonomy to LGAs in ongoing constitution amendment exercise because that is the only way to guarantee development at the grassroots.
    Dogara also charged local government workers to step up the agitation, saying only through their individual and collective efforts would the desired change be achieved.
    He gave this charge when he received the national executive members of NULGE at the National Assembly.
    The speaker noted that no progress can be achieved in the local government if the status quo of interference and administration by state governors is retained, adding that local governments must be financially and politically autonomous to trigger development in the rural areas.
    He said: “It is a responsibility all of us owe to our people. As a matter of fact, we are not even doing it for you; we are doing it for the Nigerian people. And the way local government administration is in Nigeria, I must say it is truly a stab on the conscience of every true democrat. It doesn’t matter whether you are the president if you are a senator, a member of the House, a leader of any of these institutions or in the judiciary.”
    Dogara said some governors opposed to local government autonomy fear that local governments would collapse if their administration is handed over to the elected chairmen.
    He added that progress can never be madeby maintaining the status quo adding that the House has chosen to ensure that ongoing constitution amendment exercise captured the yearnings of Nigerians for development in the grassroots.
    “For us as representatives of the people, we have heard the cry of the people and we know that the only way we can add value to local government is by giving them political and financial independence. This will expand opportunities in the grassroots,” he said.
    The NULGE delegation commended the Speaker for leading the campaign and advocacy for local government autonomy and described him as a patriot and statesman.
    He called on Dogara to ensure that the ongoing constitution amendment captures local government autonomy, adding that he should involve all stakeholders that can bring it to fruition, including President Muhammadu Buhari, who is best-placed to ensure that governors stop the violation of the constitutionally provided roles of local government officials.

  • NULGE hails Supreme Court’s verdict on elected council chiefs

    NULGE hails Supreme Court’s verdict on elected council chiefs

    NATIONAL Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) has said the Supreme Court judgment nullifying the law passed by state legislatures allowing governors to sack elected local government councils will deepen the nation’s democracy.
    Speaking with reporters in Abuja yesterday, its National President, Comrade Ibrahim Khaleel, said the judgment of the five-man Supreme Court panel was the best thing to happen to local government administration.
    Lauding the court for standing by the truth and respecting the constitution that “binds us together as a democratic country”, he called for total autonomy to remove local government administration from the apron of governors.
    Khaleel advocated a constitutional amendment to allow a four-year renewable tenure for elected local government officials rather than the discriminatory practice of between two to three years.
    According to him, the Supreme Court judgment gave hope for democracy to take root at the local government level, adding that the action of governors denied the people their constitutional rights of deciding who should govern them.
    Local governments, he added, have been at the mercy of the governors, who divert money meant for their operations and leave the third tier of government without funds to pay workers.
    Khaleel argued that many of their members have not received salaries for months in many states.
    He said: “The states have seriously encroached on resources of local governments and it has affected running of local governments.
    “Communities are underdeveloped because the governors siphoned allocations meant for their development. It has become expedient for local governments to have their accounts separated from those of the states.”

  • Gunmen abduct NULGE chief in Abia

    Some gunmen have abducted the Vice President of the Abia State chapter of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees, (NULGE), Comrade Ikechi Nwaigwe, in Aba, the commercial hub of the state.

    It was learnt that Nwaigwe was abducted at 7.30 p.m on Tuesday at his Federal Housing Estate, Ogbor Hill, home, a short distance from the heart of the business town.

    Sources said the gunmen might have trailed and ambushed the union leader near his home.

    The hoodlums reportedly struck as Nwaigwe was driving into his home.

    They were said to have whisked him to an unknown place.

    At the time of filing this report last night, it was not clear if Nwaigwe’s whereabouts had been established.

    But a source, who pleaded anonymity, recalled that the NULGE chief arrived at the gate of his home, blasting his vehicle’s horns for his family to open the gate.

    The gunmen were reportedly waiting for him at the gate.

    “As soon as his son came out to open the gate, the gunmen attacked Nwaigwe, pushing him inside his car. They beat up his son before speeding off with Nwaigwe in his car,” the source stated.

    Another source said a Toyota Camry belonging to the union leader had been recovered.

    The source added that the abductors had contacted his family, demanding N2 million ransom.

    Police spokesman Ogbonnaya Nta, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) could not be reached for comments on the matter.

  • Gunmen kidnap NULGE VP in Abia

    Gunmen kidnap NULGE VP in Abia

    Yet-to-be identified gunmen have reportedly kidnapped the Vice President of the Abia State chapter of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees, (NULGE), Comrade Ikechi Nwaigwe, in Aba, the commercial hub of the state.

    Nation was told that Nwaigwe was abducted at about 7.30pm on Tuesday at his residence located at the Federal Housing Estate, Ogbor Hill, some distance from the heart of the business town.

    Sources said that the gunmen who may have trailed and laid ambush near the man’s house, struck as he was trying to drive into his residence, whisking him away to yet-to-be identified place.

    Until the time of filing this report, it wasn’t clear if the gunmen had established communication with the victim, but a source within the area where the incident happened, who pleaded anonymity narrated that the NULGE VP had arrived at the gate of his residence at the Estate blowing horns for his family members to open the gate for him not knowing that the gunmen had laid ambush for him.

    “As soon as his son came out to open the gate, the gunmen attacked Nwaigwe and pushed him inside his car. They beat up his son before speeding off with him in his car,” the source stated.

    Another source hinted that a Toyota Camry belonging to the man that the kidnappers fled with has been recovered.

    The source further claimed that the kidnappers have also established contact with his family, demanding ransom of N2m to have their breadwinner back.

    Abia State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) ASP Ogbonnaya Nta couldn’t be reached on his line for reaction on the matter.