Withdrawal of services by LG workers uncalled for, APC chieftain insists
The Osun State chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), yesterday, said that the directive issued to members of the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) in the state to withdraw their services over the crisis surrounding the control of local councils still subsists.
The Chairman of the NLC in the state, Christopher Abimbola Arapasopo, maintained that the safety and security of NULGE members, who are affiliates of the Congress, remain paramount and that they would not resume duties in their respective councils until peace and enabling environment were guaranteed.
Arapasopo, who insisted on the directive in a statement, also urged members of the public to disregard the position of a factional body, under the aegis of the Association of Concerned Local Government Staff, which recently directed councils’ employees to resume duties.
He said: “We have been monitoring the situation with the interest of all our members working within the local councils as our primary concern. We hereby direct that all council workers in Osun State should continue to stay at home until peace and serenity can be assured.
“We are not happy with the ongoing development. The NLC won’t risk the lives of our members to work under an atmosphere we consider to be summarily unpredictable. Once we are convinced that the situation has improved tremendously, we will direct our members to resume work.”
MEANWHILE, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, yesterday, described the withdrawal of services by local council workers in the state as unfortunate and uncalled for.
Oyintiloye lamented that the action of the workers had plunged the councils into administrative paralysis, inflicting untold pain on the people at the grassroots.
The former lawmaker, in a statement forwarded to journalists in Osogbo, therefore, appealed to the workers to immediately return to work and save the councils from total collapse. He also said that since there were elected chairmen at the councils, there was no point for the workers to abscond from work.
