…As NULGE threatens strike
By Ovat Abeng
The embattled workers alleged to be ghost workers earning salaries without being staff members of the Anambra State Local Government Service Commission, has called on the state governor, Chukwuma Charles Soludo to urgently intervene on the matter to avoid break down of law and order in the state.
The workers made their position known when they stormed the Local Government Service Commission Headquarters in Awka, on Wednesday to protest what they unanimously described as “misinformation”, unpaid salary of three months and other conditions affecting their existence.
It was gathered that the protest was as a result of the Commission’s discovery of over 427 ghost workers earning salaries from the state government without being staff members.
According to Chairman of the Commission, Chief Vin Ezeaka, who disclosed the discovery to journalists in Awka last week, the commission also discovered that six senior employees at the various local government areas forged their certificates, claiming they were issued by the Imo State University.
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He said 59 among the ghost workers were employees of the Commission who died a long time ago, 40 had retired but were still on the state payroll, while 11 others were living abroad.
He said, “The discovery was made during a personnel audit launched to sanitise the local government system in the state. In the process, over 427 workers were discovered to have been on the local government payroll without being staffed.
Speaking on behalf of the protesters shortly after the protest at the NULGE House Awka, Comrade Odumodu Stephen, debunked the information, saying that they were not ghost workers as being reported by the press.
According to him, “the people present here today are not ghost but genuine local government workers who are genuinely employed by the state government in our various council areas. The peaceful protest, you all witnessed is to let our worker-friendly governor, Chukwuma Soludo, the media and the general public to know that we are genuine workers.
“Also the protest is to inform the governor that we have not received our three months salary (April, May and June this year), as a result of the misinformation about us.
“So, we are appealing to the Commission’s Chairman, Chief Ezeaka to direct whoever is in position to pay our three months salary to do so in order to save our members from any unpleasant circumstances of the hardship currently facing the country at the moment,” Comrade Stephen stated.
In his brief speech, the State President of Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Comrade Adigwe Chikwelu while expressing dissatisfaction over the development, urged the Commission to always verify information properly before going to the press.
He threatened that if nothing is done to address the issue at the end of July, 2024, the Union will have no other option than to shutdown services across the 21 local government areas of the State.
The Chairman of the Commission, Chief Vin Ezeaka, in his response, promised to return the protesters back to their payroll.
He also warned the embattled workers to always report issues concerning their working condition to the Commission as their employer and not to NULGE as a Union.
