Edo State House of Assembly on Wednesday set up ad hoc committee to investigate the non- payment of several months of salaries owed local government workers by the authorities of 15 councils in the state.
It was gathered that the setting up of the committee was occasioned by the petition, titled, ‘The non-payment of local government workers’ salaries in Edo State’, addressed to the speaker of the House, Victor Edoror.
The petition written by the leadership of the state chapter of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) was signed by Chukwuemeke Aguonye, its secretary.
Three standing committees of the House were amalgamated into an ad-hoc committee with a mandate to probe the accounts of the defaulting councils and why the employees have not been paid.
The three standing committees constituted into an ad- hoc committee are, the local government, public accounts and finance and economic development committees.
Victor Edoror, speaker of the House, while constituting the committee with a two-week mandate to submit its report, described the non-payment of salaries to workers by the affected councils as “pathetic”.
According to him, “with this petition the situation is pathetic. This Assembly has no option than to swing into action. I will immediately con- stitute ad-hoc committee that will be an amalgamation of local government committee, public accounts and finance and economic development committees.
“These three committees are hereby amalgamated into one to be called an ad-hoc committee to immediately look into this petition and come out with a solution im- mediately. “This ad-hoc committee will have a mandate to look into the accounts of the local governments, to immediately find out why these employ- ees are not paid, whether the councils were right or not and they will have two weeks to come out with a report,” he said.
He however, urged the council chairmen to appear unfailingly before the ad hoc committee next Monday by 9am.
In the petition, the leadership of NULGE said 15 council chairmen owed workers between two to nine months’ salaries with the exception of Owan East, Etsako East and Esan South East councils.
They however, urged the members of the House to appeal to the state government to contribute a share to the funding of primary education in line with the First Scheduled, Part Two (A) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
They also demanded for the payment of all the arrears of salaries owed local govern- ment workers in Edo so as to put a stop to the untimely death of members and that of their dependants.
Other demands are to compel all local government chairmen councils in Edo State to stop contracting the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) base of the councils instead they should intensify efforts to increase their IGR generations in their respectively councils.
They further want the House to compel the state government to stop using local government allocations to pay staff of SUBEB as well as paying staff of Local Education Authority.
Local Governments workers in the state had on Tuesday this week ended its one month street protests against the non- payment of several months of salaries to its workers.
IDRIS UMAR MOMOH, Benin
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