Obinna Nwaoku, Port Harcourt
Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has intervened in the ongoing labor dispute at Emohua Local Government Area by ordering a fresh biometric verification exercise for council workers.

The directive comes after the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) declared a seven-day warning strike over the alleged non-payment of salaries to over 300 workers in the local government area.

The workers, who were reinstated by Governor Fubara’s administration, had their salaries stopped by Emohua LGA Chairman, Dr. Chidi Lloyd.

NULGE Chairman in the state, Comrade Christopher Paul, told journalists in Port Harcourt that the action was to protest the refusal of the chairman of the LGA, Dr. Chidi Lloyd, to pay some workers who were reinstated by the administration of Governor Siminalayi Fubara.

Paul stated that the affected workers had been receiving their salaries before the emergence of the Lloyd-led administration in the area.

He wondered why the reinstated workers would be denied their payment by the Dr. Lloyd-led administration.

The chairman warned that if the issue was not resolved after the end of the seven-day warning strike, the workers would embark on an indefinite strike.

“We are embarking on this strike because the current chairman of Emohua Local Government Area stopped the salary of over 300 workers in Emohua, and you will all agree with me that these workers had been receiving salaries for several months since the governor of Rivers State graciously recalled them back.

“Even his predecessor, the outgone administrator of the LGA, was paying them the salary up to their July salary, only for him to resume office now and say he will not pay them salary, and we said no, they are our members,” Paul said.

In contrast, Dr. Lloyd has dismissed the protesters’ claims, insisting that all genuine staff of the council have been paid.

He accused NULGE leadership of attempting to blackmail him, claiming that the union is complaining about individuals whose names were “smuggled” into the payroll.

However, Governor Fubara summoned the LGA chairman, State NULGE leadership, and Local Government Service Commission to discuss the issue.

The governor has directed NULGE leadership to call off the proposed strike and propose another biometric verification for civil servants.