In response to the Supreme Court’s ruling preserving LG’s financial autonomy, the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees, Ekiti State section, sharply criticized former governor Ayodele Fayose on Tuesday for his attacks on LG employees.
Oluseyi Olatunde, the president of the Ekiti NULGE, claimed that Fayose purposefully impoverished Ekiti council employees during his tenure as governor and lacked knowledge about how LGs operate.
In response to Fayose’s remark about LG autonomy in a television interview, the President of NULGE took action.
While voicing disapproval of the Supreme Court ruling that gave the nation’s LGs autonomy, Fayose claimed that the majority of council members did not take their jobs seriously.
“Go to the council on Wednesday or Friday, and you will not find ten percent of the local government staff in the office,” declared Fayose. They never show up. I want them to refute this. My name is Ayo Fayose.
They don’t show up for work. NULGE and all local government leaders will go to the governor and plead with him when you take action to hold them accountable. We won’t vote for you, they will be telling you. At the municipal government, we do things this way.
“The state performs administrative tasks more effectively than local government. Everyone goes to the local government to pick up money. even individuals living outside the state.
However, in response, Fayose’s assertion was characterized as playful by the Ekiti NULGE President, who stated on Tuesday that “the statement is not the true picture of local government practice in Nigeria and in Ekiti State in particular.”
“It is nothing more than a fabrication concocted by individuals such as Fayose, who are against the realities of local government autonomy.”
We demand that Fayose respectfully retract the divisive remarks and offer an unconditional apology to the council employees he had defamed, intimidated, and painted in a negative light in the eyes of the public with common sense.
“The numerous developmental advancements accomplished thus far by all the councils, including the Local Council Development Areas established in the state, demonstrate the high level of productivity among Ekiti State’s council employees.
The hostile reaction from Fayose, who handled the councils as his own private company when serving as governor of Ekiti State and diminished the role of council chairman to that of a puppet, is not surprising to the NULGE leadership.
“Not only that, but despite the substantial bailout money the state received from the federal government, he dehumanized local government employees by his reprehensible policy of using three federal allocations to pay a month’s salary. This led to unpaid payments building up in arrears of nine months.
The claim that council employees don’t report for duty is untrue and ought to be ignored. Council employees have been providing the best services possible in their individual councils, and the NULGE President stated that when there are shortages of tools or facilities, these employees are frequently transferred to other beats.
