Members of staff of local government councils in Imo State have concluded plans to stage a protest rally in the first week of December this year over the non-payment of their 31-month salary arrears.
The workers said the protest rally will be such that has never been witnessed in the state since its creation in 1976.
Aggrieved representatives of the workers on Tuesday stormed the Office of the Chairman, Local Government Service Commission (LGSC) in Owerri to voice the grievances of their colleagues.
Spokesman of the workers who craved anonymity told National Newsbreak that they were now poised for a showdown with the administration of Senator Hope Uzodimma as they were no longer comfortable with its ‘fake promises’.
According to him, workers at the local government councils numbering 946 have not been paid for 31 months and government keeps making promises without fulfilling them.
He said they have resolved to stage a massive protest rally in the first week of December, this year to press home their demand for their backlog of salaries.
The spokesman further disclosed that some of their colleagues have died out of frustration triggered by the unpaid salaries and huge debts they were owing people.
He said; “Government made promises that were never kept. Some of us have died of starvation, some our of frustrations and others huge debt.
“We can’t take care of our children and wards. We’re faced with untold hardship and can no longer cope with our multifaceted problems.
“We have undergone series of screening and verification exercises with demands of bank statements, photocopies of our documents that cost us huge sums of money including transportation from our various locations.
“We humbly appeal to the Governor Uzodimma to live up to his promises by ensuring we are captured in this November salaries as anything short of that will leave us with no choice of embarking on massive protest including doing that with our PVCs.
Another representative from Nwangele Local Government Area disclosed that they were employed with genuine documents and given all necessary papers to show that they are among Imo Local Government workers but wondered why the state would be involved in selective payment of her workers and treating others as if they are leprous.
Another worker from Ideato North Local Government Area also disclosed that she was employed since 1995 and has been consistent with carrying out all the functions assigned to her but was shocked that the government decided to tag some of them as ghost workers.
She said; ‘I’m not a ghost worker. How can you transfer a worker tagged a ghost worker to another local government?
“You don’t transfer a ghost. We will be left with no choice than to embark on a massive protest to voice our grievances. We are tired of these fake promises.”
The Chairman, Local Government Service Commission, Mrs. Rosemary lzuogu was not on seat when the workers’ representatives stormed her office.
The LGSC Director of Administration and Finance (DAF), Justin Okoroji who addressed the workers assured them of the commission’s efforts to ensure that they were captured and accommodated in the November voucher.
He advised them not to embark on the protest as their grievances would be sorted out.
