In this interview with Daily Independent, chairman of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Delta State chapter, Comrade David Ofoeyeno, bares his mind on State/Local Government joint account, urging Governor Ifeanyi Okowa not to tamper with local government funds. He also dispelled insinuations of factions in the labour union. He spoke to Emma Arubi.
On factions in the labour union?
There is no controversy over my election as Chairman of the NLC in Delta State. The election was duly and my predecessor was present. He congratulated me and handed over authority to me. Only three unions out of the 43 Unions that make up the Congress in the state were absent at the election.
What happened is that the person that lost elections at Abuja formed a parallel Union and directed the three unions under him to do same. So his three unions did. Compared to 43 unions they are infinitesimal. Actually, the issue on ground is a national one and not peculiar to Delta state and they are making frantic efforts to resolve it.
We later learnt that the same Comrade Akporeha who handed over to me after our elections at Asaba went to Warri where they allegedly conducted another election and he emerged victorious. That clearly is an aberration and cannot hold so I remain the duly elected state Chairman of the NLC and the Labour family is intact and working fine. There are no problems and therefore the question of resolving matters does not arise.
As for being the Chairman of NLC and President of Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) in Delta State Chapter, there are no problems running both offices. NULGE is an affiliate body of the NLC in Delta state and we are also in the State Executive Council (SEC), and have been working together for this long. All NLC chairmen are members of their various company unions before becoming NLC Chairmen. I am a unionist with many years of labour experience and achievement that have endeared me to the entire workforce in the state. So I manage both offices very effectively. The difference now is that, instead of running just NULGE, I now administer about 43 affiliate Unions. It is no problem at all.
State/Local government Joint Account
The problem with this Joint Account is that most state governors in the country temper with the council funds by misappropriating it and depriving the councils of the little stipend accruing to them to effectively run the administration of their various councils. This is what led to the agitation for the scrapping of the joint account system by majority of the council workers across the country.
But in Delta State, former Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan did not and never tempered with the system at any given time. We in Delta State benefited from the joint account and naturally preferred that it be retained as against the agitations against it by those not satisfied with the way and manner their governors handled it. We have no regrets at all in Delta state with the Joint Account system. I’m not against the agitation for scrapping the joint account system, but we in Delta state have no regret at all with the practice during Uduaghan’s tenure.
I would seriously advise that Governor Okowa follow the good legacies of the former governor as regard the system so as to keep the worker force in good and cordial relationship with government. In fact, Uduaghan was augmenting Local Government council up to the tune of N700m monthly to sustain the councils and meet up with some of our obligations until only recently when things started falling apart with monthly allocation from the federation account dwindling drastically. We give kudos to Uduaghan for this gesture. Uduaghan handled the account so well that NULGE became envious. We do not have any problem with him as he did not take a dime from the account.
Suspension of recruitment exercise by Governor Okowa
For the 8-years that Dr. Uduaghan was in the saddle not one worker was retrenched, instead he was busy employing more workers and had a robust relationship with labour and we identified with him and gave him so much awards. So Okowa should emulate and sustain same because without the goodwill of the work force as the engine room of the state machinery things would not be easy for him at all.
From his speech at his inauguration, I can see that he meant well for us when he said he will address the issue of prompt payment of salaries. Truly, he should take payment of workers’ salaries very seriously by paying same from the month of July regularly 23rd and 25th of each month as former Governor Uduaghan was doing.
As for the rumour making the rounds about his intended retrenchment exercise, my advice to him is for him to see reasons why he should not embark on it. If he does that labour is not likely to take lightly with him. It will only mean that he is anti-people. Throwing out somebody just employed into the Civil Service can have very devastating psychological effect on that person. It is not a very good starting signal for him and labour would not give its approval to it. It is a big setback indeed. The Governor should work with those that have been employed already.
Delta State in opposition to the APC-led Federal Government, way forward
There are three tiers of government and I believe the state government has its powers under our constitution just like the Federal government. I do not see any problem arising there from. But my candid advice is that Governor Ifeayin Okowa should be able to key into the APC-led Federal government programmes and policies. That is the only way Deltans would benefit maximally from the dividends of democracy in the President Muhammadu Buhari administration and I trust our governor that he has the capacity to bridge the whatever gap there is between both arms of government in the country.
Uduaghan legacies
As state president of NULGE, I remember Uduaghan for sustaining the local government councils in Delta because he was able to creditably manage the councils’ funds. If not for his administrative sagacity, the councils would have long gone extinct or at best remain comatose as we have them in most states of federation presently. He ensured that at any given time, monies are kept aside for the workers’ salaries.
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