The Ekiti State branch of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), has berated former governor Ayodele Fayose, over his reaction to the Supreme Court’s verdict on LG financial autonomy.
Recall that Fayose, during a recent interview with Channels TV, alleged that most council officials did not take their work seriously.
Reacting to Fayose’s claims on Tuesday, the Ekiti NULGE President, Oluseyi Olatunde, said that the former governor lacked ideas about the working of the LGs and deliberately impoverished the state council workers during his tenure.
NULGE called on Fayose to withdraw the statement and tender an apology to the council workers.
He said: “The statement is not the true picture of local government practice in Nigeria and in Ekiti State in particular.”
“It is a mere fallacy cooked up by Fayose and his like who are opposed to the realities of the local government autonomy.
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“We call on Fayose to humbly withdraw the vexatious statement and tender unreserved apology to the council workers who he had discredited, blackmailed and portrayed in bad light in the eyes of right thinking public.
“Council workers in Ekiti State are very productive and this is evident in the various developmental progress made so far by all the councils, including the Local Council Development Areas created in the state.
“The leadership of NULGE is not surprised at the negative outburst of Fayose who, during his time as governor of Ekiti State, ran the councils like his private business and reduced the office of the council chairman to that of a puppet.
“Not that alone, he impoverished local government workers through his obnoxious policy of using three federal allocations to pay a month’s salary, which resulted in unpaid salaries accumulating in arrears of nine months, despite the huge bailout funds the state received from the Federal Government.
“The assertion that council workers don’t go to work is false and should be disregarded. Council workers have been delivering optimal services at their respective councils, and where there are shortages of facilities or equipment to work with, workers in such situations are often redeployed to other beats.”
