The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has declared solidarity with striking workers in Osun State over the continued withholding of local government funds, demanding their immediate release by the Federal Government.
The Congress said the continued non-release of the allocations had inflicted considerable damage on governance at the local government level, with wider implications for service delivery.
The NLC Acting General Secretary, Comrade Benson Upah, stated this in a press statement issued on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, in which he condemned the continued withholding of the funds and commended the workers for maintaining a peaceful approach to their industrial action.
Upah said, “We express solidarity with the striking workers of Osun State in pursuit of the release of the withheld local government funds and urge the Federal Government authorities to release those funds without further delay.”
He lamented that the non-release of the allocations had undermined governance at the grassroots, stressing that the consequences extended beyond the immediate dispute involving the workers.
“The non-release of these funds has caused considerable damage to governance at the local government council level, with collateral implications,” he stated.
Questioning the justification for the continued withholding of the funds, the NLC official alleged that the action was intended to demonstrate that the Federal Government was above the law.
“There is no justification whatsoever for the continued seizure of these funds other than to prove the point that the Federal Government is above the law,” Upah declared.
He cautioned against the use of intimidation and arm-twisting in resolving disputes in a democratic society, insisting that the government must uphold the principles of the rule of law.
“However, we do not need this level of intimidation or arm-twisting in a democracy,” he said.
Upah also faulted what he described as selective compliance with judicial decisions, maintaining that the Federal Government could not choose which court judgments to obey and which to disregard.
“The Federal Government cannot cherry-pick which decisions of courts to obey and which it will not,” he added.
Meanwhile, the NLC commended the striking workers for their conduct throughout the industrial action, urging them to maintain the peaceful approach with which they had pursued their demands.
“We commend the Osun workers for conducting themselves with utmost decorum in prosecuting this action, and we urge them to keep it so, always peaceful,” Upah stated.
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