From Priscilla Ediare, Ado-Ekiti
Ekiti State Governor Mr Biodun Oyebanji, has promised local government workers in the state that his government would protect their interests in the implementation of the Supreme Court judgment on LG autonomy.
He assured them that they would not suffer any negative consequences as a result of the new administrative and fiscal arrangements occasioned by the Supreme Court ruling.
Governor Oyebanji disclosed this on Saturday when he received local government workers under the auspices of the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), who came on a solidarity visit to his office in Ado Ekiti.
The workers, led by leaders of the union and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), were at the governor’s office to thank him for the completion of the Local Government Service Commission building, as well as other policies of the government that had promoted the interests of the workers.
Citing various programmes and policies of the government, the workers said they would work assiduously for the governor’s second term in office. They described his election in 2022 as a worthwhile mandate well maximised for the interest of all Ekiti people, adding that they would mobilise support for his re-election.
The local government workers, who spoke through their representatives led by the President of NULGE, Comrade Oluseyi Olatunde, stated that the entire staff of local government in the state were irrevocably committed to Governor Oyebanji’s second term bid, owing to the landmark achievements of the Governor through his visionary leadership and tireless efforts aimed at moving the state forward.
Comrade Olatunde affirmed that Ekiti is tremendously lucky to have Governor Oyebanji at a critical time like this, stating that the governor had been able to bring Ekiti out of infrastructural decay and deliver local government workers from economic quagmire by activating economic prosperity and transformation through his mantra of shared prosperity.
The NULGE president highlighted some of the governor’s achievements in local government, including the regular payment of pensions to retirees, the release of a lump sum of N1.2 billion for the payment of arrears of gratuities, as well as the payment of six months’ arrears of salaries and four months of deductions to both local government workers and primary school teachers.
While commending the positive disposition of the governor towards the plight of local government workers, Comrade Olatunde applauded the payment of 2017 and 2018 leave bonuses, the appointment of two additional permanent secretaries for the commission, the appointment of forty-five heads of local government administration, the completion of the new secretariat complex for the commission, and the regular promotion of staff, among others. He noted that all these and many more have endeared him to the hearts of all Ekiti people, both at home and in the diaspora.
“We are here to say thank you for providing robust leadership. In less than one year in office, our health workers, who have been marginalised and discriminated against for more than thirteen years, were graciously supported by you with the approval and implementation of health consolidated salaries for our health workers, thereby putting them at par with their counterparts in state employment. This development ended the two salary regimes among health workers in the same sector.”
The governor stated that he had not done anything spectacular, adding that appreciation should be given to God and President Tinubu, who provided the needed resources for his administration to thrive and which enabled him to deliver dividends of democracy to the people.
He commended NULGE for being supportive of his administration before, during, and after the election, as some of them weathered the storm together with him to get people to vote for him, assuring them that he would not disappoint them on any account.
“I don’t want any of you to be afraid of whatever is going to be the outcome of the Supreme Court judgement on local government autonomy. We will look at what is happening in other states and give you the best.
“If there is anyone to thank, it is President Tinubu, because he provided all the resources for us to do it. If Asiwaju had not shown favour to us in Ekiti, no matter how well I tried, I may not have been able to achieve this. The president is supportive of our administration in Ekiti State.
“Whoever doesn’t believe in God, by what is happening today, must know that it can only be God. I will not ascribe anything to myself; everything you said I have done, it’s not me that is doing it, it’s God that has answered your prayers. I was looking at your faces this morning, and I know you are all happy.”
Regarding the new minimum wage, the governor assured that council workers, primary school teachers, and pensioners would be considered and that he would not append his signature to any document until all workers were considered.
He added, “I am not a governor of core civil service alone; I am a governor of all of you, because when so many workers in this state were sitting on the fence, you took a position, and I can see that everywhere.”