Ondo LG workers shut assembly over LG autonomy

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Local government workers under the aegis of Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Ondo State, on Tuesday, stormed the State House of Assembly, threatening a showdown with the lawmakers over the signing of local government autonomy.

The protesting local government workers who shut down the Assembly complex warned the lawmakers against voting against local government autonomy in the new constitution being reviewed by the National Assembly.

The protesting workers, who are armed with placards of various inscriptions threatened that “No autonomy, no election in Ondo state in the forthcoming general election, while others read: “Yes to LG autonomy”, “Yes to judicial autonomy”, “No autonomy, No vote” and “On autonomy, we stand”, among others.

Led by the Ondo state President of the union, Comrade Bola Taiwo, said the local government must be autonomous and urged the lawmakers to do the needful by supporting the bill and passing the autonomy bill into law.

Taiwo said the lawmakers would not be allowed into the Assembly complex until they guarantee the passage of the local government autonomy and threatened to paralyse social, economic and political activities in the state

According to Taiwo, no fewer than 16 states in the country had signed the LG autonomy bill into law and Ondo state should not be left out in assenting to the bill as passed by the National Assembly.

He maintained that the said Governor Rotimi Akeredolu has no reason in lobbying the lawmakers to vote in support of the bill, saying the governor earned their votes because he guaranteed that the local government autonomy bill would be signed into law.

However, only two of the 26 members of the state House of Assembly were present at the Assembly complex and attended to the protesting local government workers.

The workers informed that the protest became necessary, following reports from the section of the media over an alleged pressure on the House of Assembly from the Executive arm of government to vote against the local government autonomy.

But while addressing the protesting workers, the two lawmakers, Feyide Oluyede representing Ose and Tomide Akinribido (Ondo West) who is the Deputy Minority leader said there was no iota of truth in the allegation that the Assembly was under pressure to reject the local government autonomy.

The lawmakers promised to deliver the protest letter of to the Speaker, Rt. Hon. David Oleyeloogun, who they said was not around to personally receive the letter.

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