Autonomy: Labour urges FG not to entrust workers’ salaries to local governments

The Organized Labour, consisting of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), and the Nigerian Union of Pensioners (NUP), has proposed a staff redistribution, placement, and auditing exercise to determine the exact number of local government workers, primary school teachers, and pensioners across all 774 local government areas nationwide.

Operating under the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of local government-based unions, they also recommended a one-year embargo on recruiting new staff, including teachers, from the date of the Supreme Court’s judgment on direct payments.

This is to ensure stability and proper consideration during the transition to direct remittance of federal allocations, following the recent Supreme Court ruling granting financial autonomy to local governments.

In a joint statement, NUT President Titus Amba, NULGE President-General Ambali Akeem, and NUP President Godwin Abumisi outlined a seven-point recommendation, stating that “to ensure a smooth transition to the direct payment system, JAC recommends a comprehensive staff redistribution, placement, and auditing to ascertain the true number of local government workers, primary school teachers, and pensioners.”

They further recommended that “recruitment of new staff into local government positions and teaching roles should be suspended for one year from the Supreme Court judgment date to maintain stability and enable local governments to focus on developmental projects and service delivery.”

Among other recommendations, JAC called for the “restructuring of supervisory institutions overseeing local government employees.” This would include expanding the statutory membership of these institutions to involve local government chairmen, heads of local government unions, and other relevant stakeholders for improved quality control and inclusiveness.

JAC also proposed that the Local Government Service Commission include a representative from the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) and NULGE, while the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) should include representatives from ALGON and NUT.

Similarly, they recommended that the Local Government Staff Pension Board include representatives from ALGON, NUP, NULGE, and NUT, and that the Primary Health Care Agency include representatives from ALGON and local health practitioners.

Due to the significant deficit in infrastructure and limited service delivery capacity in many local governments, JAC urged the Federal Government to assist in the procurement of essential equipment such as tractors, graders, bulldozers, refuse disposal trucks, septic evacuation vehicles, and public address systems, as well as materials for vocational skills centers. The cost of this equipment should be gradually deducted from local government allocations.

JAC also suggested reorganizing the peace and security committees within local governments for better coordination in areas like indexing, registration, kitting, intelligence gathering, and policing, with regular bi-monthly meetings funded by the local government.

For worker welfare and industrial harmony, JAC emphasized the importance of training, capacity building, and sustaining industrial stability within local governments. Key payments should be made as first-line charges and handled by relevant agencies.

These include local government workers’ gross salaries, which should be managed by the Local Government Service Commission; 2% of the total local government allocation for running grants and training, which should be allocated to the Local Government Service Commission; primary school teachers’ salaries, which should be managed by SUBEB; and 1.5% of the total local government allocation for SUBEB’s running costs.

Additionally, 25% of the gross salaries of teachers and local government workers should be allocated to pension and gratuity payments, managed by the Local Government Staff Pension Board, and 5% of the local government allocation should be granted to the traditional councils.

Finally, JAC proposed strengthening the Federal Ministry of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs as the supervisory body for policy formulation, coordination, implementation, and oversight.

This would include coordinating reforms through quarterly summits and reviewing the Local Government Scheme of Service every five years to enhance productivity and policy consistency at the local government level.