Workers shut FCT council secretariats over salary

The FCT chapter of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), on Thursday, shut down the six area council secretariats to protest the non- payment of their January, 2022, salary.

Our reporter, who went round some of the area councils, observed that the main gates of the secretariats were under lock and key, while NULGE officials stood guard to prevent any staff from entering.

The NULGE members carried placards with inscriptions such as “No salary, No work”, “LG autonomy we stand for”, “LG govt na third tier of govt” and “You have no legal right to hold back our allocation”.

The President of NULGE in the FCT, Comrade Abdullahi Ibrahim Kabi, while addressing newsmen in front of Kuje Area Council secretariat, said the union decided to shut down the six area councils indefinitely after a 48-hour ultimatum issued to the FCT Administration (FCTA) to pay the January salary of the area councils’ staff elapsed.

Comrade Kabi said the union was worried by the non-abatement of the current impasse between the FCTA and the area councils’ chairmen over non-release of the December, 2021, allocation by the FCTA.

He further said following the impasse between the area councils and the FCTA, the union, in its genuine effort, met with the six area councils’ chairmen on Wednesday, January 16, where issues such as IGR, FCT-IRS, non-release of December, 2021, allocation by FCTA, among others, were discussed.

The union said the only way out of the current infighting between local governments in Nigeria and their various state governments was to grant autonomy to the local governments.

The labour leader insisted that the area councils’ staff would not resume work across the six area councils until the FCTA paid their January salary.

Reacting, the Mandate Secretary of the Area Councils Services Secretariat, Alhaji Abubakar Ibrahim Dantsoho, said the union should hold the six area councils’ chairmen responsible, noting that the FCTA had released allocation to them.