Anambra workers protest 'ghost worker' allegations

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The embattled workers alleged to be ghost workers earning salaries without being staff members of the Anambra State Local Government Service Commission, have called on the state governor, Charles Soludo to urgently intervene on the matter to avoid break down of law and order in the state.

The workers made their position known when they stormed the Local Government Service Commission Headquarters in Awka, on Wednesday to protest what they unanimously described as “misinformation”, unpaid salary of three months, and other conditions affecting their existence.

Nigerian Tribune gathered that the protest was a result of the Commission’s discovery of over 427 ghost workers earning salaries from the state government without being staff members.

According to the Chairman of the Commission, Chief Vin Ezeaka, who disclosed the discovery to Journalists in Awka last week, the commission also discovered that six senior employees at the various local government areas forged their certificates, claiming they were issued by the Imo State University.

He said 59 among the ghost workers were employees of the commission who died a long time ago, 40 had retired but were still on the state payroll, and 11 others were living abroad.

He said, “The discovery was made during a staff personnel audit launched to sanitise the local government system in the state. In the process, over 427 workers were discovered to have been on the local government payroll without being staffed.

Speaking further shortly after the protest at the NULGE House Awka, the spokesperson of the protesters, Comrade Odumodu Stephen, debunked the information, saying that they are not ghost workers as been reported by the press.

“According to him, the people present here today are not ghosts but genuine local government workers who are genuinely employed by the state government in our various Council Areas. The peaceful protest, you all witnessed is to let our workers-friendly governor, Chukwuma Soludo, the media, and the general public know that we are genuine workers.

“Also the protest is to inform the governor that we have not received our three months’ salary (April, May, and June this year), as a result of the misinformation about us.

So, we are appealing to the Commission’s Chairman, Chief Ezeaka to direct whoever is in position to pay our three months’ salary to do so to save our members from any unpleasant circumstances, hence the hardship currently facing the country at the moment, Comrade Stephen stated.

In his brief speech, the State President of Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Comrade Adigwe Chikwelu while expressing dissatisfaction over the development, urged the Commission to always verify information properly about its subjects before going to the press.

He threatened that if nothing is done to address the issue at the end of July 2024, the Union will have no other option than to shut down services across the 21 local government areas of the State.

The Chairman of the Commission, Chief Vin Ezeaka, in his response, promised to return the protesters to their payroll.

He also warned the embattled workers to always report issues concerning their working conditions to the Commission as their employer and not to NULGE as a Union.

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