Workers protest politically-motivated —Ibadan N/East LG boss

· We are only demanding for our rights —NULGE chairman

CARETAKER Chairman, Ibadan North East Local Government, Honourable Rasheed Olalekan Afuye, has described the protest by the local government workers as being politically-motivated.

Afuye stated this while addressing journalists in his office on Thursday. He noted that the only salary being owed workers is that of August and the reason it has not been paid is because of the economic situation in the country.

“It is so unfortunate that the workers chose not to be grateful to the leadership of the local government. We just paid two months salary to them and only remain that of August. I think they should be grateful because not all local governments in the country promptly pay salary. Some even owe three to four months. So, it is unfair on their part to feel that Ibadan North East Local Government has not done well,” he said.

The local government boss further informed that “We meet every month to deliberate on how to spend the local government’s monthly allocation and other monies available. I even instruct the accountant to print the bank statement for clarity and transparency purposes. Still, they went ahead to block the secretariat entrance, denying people access into the premises.”

Chairman, National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Comrade Femi Alaje, in his reaction, said: “Since two weeks now, we have been requesting for the payment of 60 per cent of March, July and August salary. The chairman said two months salary will be paid. The 2014 and 2015 leave bonus still pending, so also disturbance allowance for three years has not been paid.

“So, these are our demands and I think we are not asking for too much. We are committed to our jobs and deserve to be paid for such. If the management of the local government is ready to dialogue with us, we are also ready to key into it,” he said.