From Emmanuel Uzor, Abakaliki
The Ebonyi State Government has dragged the chairman of the Enugu State chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress ( NLC), Comrade Virginus Nwobodo, to the national leadership of the Congress, in Abuja.
In a letter written to the national body and signed by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Labour Relations, Mrs. Grace Chukwu, a copy of which was made available to Daily Sun, the state government flayed alleged unwarranted attack on Governor David Umahi by Nwobodo, saying it was capable of causing industrial disharmony between the government and its workers over the state’s new pension scheme.
The letter dated April 5 and addressed to the NLC General Secretary, said Nwobodo, who claimed to have represented the Zonal Chairman of the NLC (South East), Comrade Uchenna Obigwe, on a fact-finding mission over the contributory pension scheme should be called to order.
It read in part: “Comrade Virginus Nwobodo, who claimed in a newspaper publication to be on trouble-shooting mission to Ebonyi State opted to make false allegation against Governor David Nweze Umahi and his administration over the issue of contributory pension scheme.
“Comrade Nwobodo showed open bias in his comments which are capable of causing disaffection between Government and its workers”.
The Governor’s adviser expressed surprise that Nwobodo, who is the Enugu State chairman of the NLC, did not consult her as a representative of government when he visited the state.
Chukwu wondered why somebody who came to Ebonyi State to “broker peace between two parties met only one party and drew conclusions.
The SA to the governor called on the national President of NLC to warn the Enugu labour leader against any act that could bring division between Ebonyi State Government and its workers.
She said, “It is also regrettable that a man who came to mediate in an issue never bothered to meet with the second party to the dispute, which is Ebonyi State Government, represented by my office.
“It is a common practice that a man seeking to mediate in a crisis does not look for who is at fault but in gathering facts and brokering peace among the parties. Comrade Nwobodo abandoned this truism by choosing to toe the part of partiality.”
She said she was happy that Ebonyi workers were totally in support of the new pension scheme.
The acting Chairman of the NLC in the state, Comrade Leonard Nkah, had, on Tuesday, raised the alarm over the action of the Enugu labour leader in an interview with journalists.