..demands immediate retraction and apology
The leadership of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees, NULGE Ekiti State has faulted the claim by a former Governor of the state, Ayodele Fayose that most council workers don’t come to work but only take salaries.
Fayose made the assertion while featuring on a national TV on Sunday.
In a statement in Ado Ekiti, NULGE president, Comrade Oluseyi Olatunde noted that such statement had clearly shown that former Governor Fayode lacks the necessary ideas about the workings of the local government system.
He said such libelous and mischievous statement was not the true picture of local government system in Nigeria, particularly in Ekiti State, saying it was a mere fallacy cooked up by Fayose and his co-travellers who were opposed to the realities of the Local Government Autonomy.
According to Oluseyi, council workers in Ekiti State are very proactive and this is evident in the various developmental progress made so far by all the council’s including the Local Council Development Areas created in the state.
He noted that the leadership of NULGE is not surprised at the negative outburst of Fayose whom during his time as Governor of the state ran the council like a private business and reduced the office of the council Chairmen to that of a puppet and maid.
Olatunde noted that former Governor impoverished the local Government workers through his obnoxious policy of using three federal allocation to pay just a month salary which resulted to accumulation of nine months salaries arrears in spite of huge bail out funds received from the federal government.
The statement reads: ” We are grateful to President Bola Tinubu, the judiciary and well meaning Nigerians who fought for the Local Government Autonomy. There is no doubt that the new development is the best way to go and the only way to witness rapid development at the grassroots.
“We initially did not want to respond to the statement by Fayose because we know him and his usual garrulous and uncivilized style but for unsuspecting members of the public, we saw it necessary to set the record straight.
“The assertion that council workers don’t go to work is fake and should be disregarded, Council workers have been delivering optimal services at their respective councils except in few occasions where there are no facilities or resources to work with and in such situation the concerned workers are often redeployed to another beat.
We the entire local Government workers in Ekiti State are calling on Fayose to humbly withdraw such Statement and tender unreserved apology to the council workers whom he had discredited, blackmailed and portrayed in a bad light in the eyes of right thinking individuals.