The newly elected President of the Edo State chapter of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Comrade Clifford Daudu, has issued a stern warning of impending industrial action across the 18 local government areas of the state if salary arrears and statutory deductions owed to workers are not settled by the end of October.
In an interaction with journalists in Benin City, Daudu highlighted that local government council workers in Edo State have been owed salaries ranging from 2017 to 2023, creating significant hardship for the affected employees. He criticized the local councils’ management for failing to remit statutory deductions from workers’ salaries, which amount to several million naira.
Daudu emphasized that NULGE has repeatedly reached out to the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), the umbrella body for all local government chairmen, and had participated in meetings that concluded with an agreement to begin paying off both salary and deduction arrears starting June 2024. However, as of October 2024, these commitments remain unfulfilled, despite multiple reminders from the union.
“Despite increased allocations to local governments from the federation account and improved internal revenue generation (IGR) rates, it is unacceptable that these arrears remain unpaid,” Daudu stated.
He warned that if their demands are not met by the end of October, the union will mobilize its members for a complete shutdown of the councils, indicating a strong resolve to address the ongoing financial grievances affecting local government employees in Edo State.