Ekiti Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees begin strike over unpaid salary arrears

MEMBERS of the Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees (Nulge) in Ekiti State have begun an indefinite strike to protest the fact that outgoing governor Ayo Fayose has refused to pay them about six month's salary arrears.

 

Governor Fayose is due to leave office on October 16 when his tenure expires, handing over to governor-elect Dr Kayode Fayemi of the All Progressives Congress (APC). In the July governorship elections, one factor that enabled Dr Fayemi's APC to beat Governor Fayose's Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was the vexed issue of salary.

 

Frustrated about the fact that nothing has happened since the elections, Nulge staff in the state have downed tools, accusing Governor Fayose of negligence of workers’ welfare and unpaid salary arrears. They are particularly aggrieved about the failure of the state government to honour an agreement signed recently at the Joint Account Allocation Committee (Jaac) of September 4.

 

They also warned the state government against fresh recruitment when it had yet to clear various arrears owed serving workers. After an emergency meeting held in Ado Ekiti, Nulge issued a communique signed by the state’s president  Olubunmi Ajimoko and secretary, Suleiman Alero directing all workers to embark on strike until all contentious issues are addressed.

 

Their communiqué read: “Against the background of this government neglecting our earlier advice on the timeliness of fresh recruitment into the services of both the local government and the teaching sector, we again wish to stress that additional burden should not be put on Jaac until our various arrears are cleared. The case of those termed hurriedly employed in 2003 should serve as a lesson to all who remember history.

 

“In view of the insensitivity of this present administration, even at the point of winding up, when we feel that corrections of past errors should be made, it has become painfully obvious that no concrete agreement can be respected by this administration. The union is, therefore, calling all its members in the 16 local governments, the related commission, boards and departments to proceed on an indefinite strike action from Friday.

 

“We humbly wish to stress that this position will only be reviewed when we see a physical evidence of the political will to alleviate our members’ predicament.”

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