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Ajaero Mixed Labour Activities With Partisan Politics – Uzodinma

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12 months ago

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Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State on Thursday cleared the air on the crisis rocking the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) in his state, saying that it boiled down to the President of the body, Joe Ajaero, mixing political partisanship with the affairs of the NLC.

Uzodinma stated this, while speaking to journalists at the State House, Abuja, after receiving the flag of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as the governorship candidate of the party in the November 11, 2023 election from President Bola Tinubu.
Uzodinma spoke alongside two other candidates of the ruling APC, whose elections have been scheduled for the same date; Chief Timipre Sylva and Usman Ododo, candidates of the party in Bayelsa and Kogi states respectively.
Recall that the NLC President was brutalised on Wednesday in Owerri, Imo State, where he had led a peaceful protest.
The circumstances surrounding the attack became confusing as it was alleged that he was abducted and beaten by police personnel, but the police later came out to claim that its operatives were not responsible for the attack that they actually provided protection for the NLC boss, who was under attack.
However, responding to questions from journalists on the Labour crisis in his state, Uzodinma accused Ajaero of being unable to distinguish between his role as the nation’s Labour leader and being partisan as an indigene of Imo State.
He said that as the Chief Security Officer of the state, he intervened to stop the dissolution of the state chapter of the NLC, whose tenure he said had not expired.
Asked to explain why Ajaero was attacked in the state, Uzodinma said: “I want you people to be very careful because there is an attempt to mix partisan politics with labour activities or an attempt to blackmail my government, but I can tell you that my people are already aware of that.
“That was why the Imo State chapter of the NLC addressed a world press conference that what their national leadership is doing is not correct and that they are not going to embark on any strike or protest and in the process, they decided to dissolve them and put in a caretaker committee.
“Of course, I’m the Chief Security Officer of the state and I have a responsibility to intervene. I encouraged the national leadership not to dissolve the state NLC exco that their tenure had not expired and that was what they did.
“I don’t interfere with Labour matters, but I have convinced my workers in Imo State to believe in me and that trust is what the opposition parties are trying to fight. But I can assure you that Imo people have already taken that decision. November 11, 2023 is by the corner, come and observe the election,” he said.
On the allegation that he was owing 40 months in salary arrears, Governor Uzodinma said: “I think it is a very good opportunity for me to clear the air on the so called allegation.
“I came into Imo State as the Governor on January 15, 2020, from 2020 January till date, there’s no month we that we did not pay salary before 30th. The situation is that before this time, I thought that the trade union is a democratic entity that allows the opinion of the people.
“I don’t pay federal civil servants, I only pay Imo State civil servants and I challenge any civil servant in the state to come out and say that from January 15, 2020 till date he has not received salary in any of the months.
“What has happened in this ugly incident is that the National President of the NLC is from Imo State and he has not been able to demarcate between being a national leader of the labour union and an interested party in local politics. But God will manage the situation.”
Reminded that the workers were accusing him of reneging on January 2021 agreement on the backlog of salaries and that this might affect his re-election, Uzodimma said: “Well, I still repeat, there’s no worker in Imo State…recall I came in January 2020 and by March, I started paying minimum wage of N30,000 that had been lying there, that previous leadership couldn’t pay. By December 2020, I paid 13th month, the first time in the history of Imo State civil service and I have maintained continuously this 13th month payment as an incentive.
“I automated the payment system. Salaries are now received in an automated manner in Imo State. I brought new innovations, I reformed the civil service. No wonder, in the civil service, the Imo State chapter of the NLC endorsed me and I am the only candidate they are supporting in the election.
“The Nigerian Union of Pensioners endorsed me, from 2007 to 2020, no civil servant in the state received gratuity. It is only my government that floated a bond to pay outstanding gratuities to civil servants.
“So, I understand the sensitivity of this event, but I want you people to be very careful because there’s an attempt to mix partisan politics or to blackmail my government. But I can tell you that my people are already aware and that was why the Imo State chapter of the NLC addressed a world press conference that what their national leadership is saying is not correct and that they are not coming to do any strike or protest. In the process, they decided to dissolve them to put in a caretaker committee.
“Of course, I am the Chief Security Officer of the state and I have the responsibility to intervene. I encouraged the national leadership not to devolve the management team that their tenure had not expired and that was what they did.
“I don’t interfere in Labour matters, but I have convinced my workers in Imo State to believe in me and it’s that trust that the opposition parties are trying to fight. But I can assure you that Imo people already have taken their decision. November 11 is by the corner.”
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