By Lateef Ibrahim
Hon. Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, a Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun, has described the withdrawal of services by local government workers in Council areas in the state, as pathetic and unfortunate.
Oyintiloye, a former lawmaker, said that the action of the workers had plunged the local government areas in the state into administrative paralysis, inflicting untold pain on the people at the grassroots
The APC Chieftain, while speaking with newsmen on Sunday in Osogbo, appealed to workers to immediately return to work and save the council areas from total collapse.
Oyintiloye, a member of defunct APC Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) said that provision of certain essential services in the last one month at the local government across the state had been crippled due to the withdrawal of services by the workers.
He also said that clinics, primary health care centres, marriage registries, and administrative offices at the local government had been shut, subjecting pregnant women, students, and potential couples, among others, to untold hardship.
Oyintiloye said that many pregnant women at the grassroots could not access their routine immunization, while many applicants who needed documentation necessary to apply for federal jobs could not also access the secretariats.
He said that since there were elected council chairmen at the council areas, there was no point for the local government workers to abscond from work.
Oyintiloye called on the leadership of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NUGLE) and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in the state not to allowed themselves to be used to frustrate local government administration in the state.
According to him, “since both unions are supposed to be apolitical, they should uphold the tenets of their creation and which is to serve all government in power.”
To protect lives and properties, Oyintiloye said that the council chairmen would liaise with security agencies and ensure that workers were adequately protected upon resumption.
The APC chieftain said that “the perceived crisis in council areas had been put under control by the security agencies,” adding “that there is a peaceful atmosphere for workers to resume back to their duty posts.”
He, however, commended members of a faction of NULGE under the aegis of the Association of Concerned local government staff for their willingness to resume work on Monday.
He also warned the state government to desist from using divide and rule tactics to destroy the local government administration in the state.
