From: OKEY SAMPSON, Aba
Abia State workers, under the aegis of Concerned Local Government Members Forum (CLGMF), have sent a save Our Soul (SOS) message to the national body of Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) calling for the immediate conduct of election for the state chapter.
Speaking on behalf of the workers, chairman of CLGMF, Comrade Samuel Ejiogu, said the SOS became imperative following the alleged refusal of the members of the present executive council to conduct election after the expiration of their tenure.
He said on July 3, 2013, the present executive members of the council which included comrades Ijioma Onyenucheya, President, Ikechi Nwigwe, vice president; Okechukwu Iwejo, Auditor 1; Okechukwu Nwagbara, PRO and others were elected for a four-year tenure.
Ejiogu said going by the constitution of NULGE, the executive members tenure had expired on July 3, 2017.
He alleged that instead of conducting election at the expiration of their tenure, they “unilaterally elongated their tenure by two years which he said was unconstitutional.
“There is no state in Nigeria we have had this type of case where executive council of NULGE will unilaterally and outside the constitution elongate their tenure.
“What we are saying is that since their tenure has expired, they should conduct election and since they have the right to re-contest, they are free and the workers can vote them in again. But what we can not accept is this illegality they are trying to foist on us.
“Since their tenure has expired by two months, the national body should dissolve them and conduct election because at the end of the day that completed their four years in office, they should vacate office and for whatever reason election was not conducted, a caretaker committee should be in place.”
The CLGMF chairman opined that if the national body did not act fast ton the mater, it would cause disintegration in the Abia State chapter of NULGE as some groups were already threatening to break away and form their own union where they believe the rule of law should hold supreme.
“Already some sub associations with NULGE in the state are contemplating breaking away over this problem and that is why we are appealing to the national body to wade and solve the problem before it gets out of hand.”