NLC seeks fresh revalidation for sacked LG workers

The Nigeria Labour Congress has asked Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara to reopen the verification process for local government workers dismissed from the payroll.

“

We are appealing in respect of the revalidation exercise which was approved for workers. Maybe some workers were omitted or not captured during the exercise and the affected workers should be given a reasonable opportunity to provide evidence of their employment.

State NLC chairman Alex Agwanwor said some genuine employees may have been missed during the government’s previous exercise. He urged the governor and the State Local Government Service Commission to allow affected workers to submit employment letters, staff identity cards, nominal rolls and bank statements.

Fubara had defended the comprehensive verification across Rivers’ 23 local government areas as part of an effort to identify ghost workers and impose fiscal discipline on the public service. The NLC said the process should nevertheless give workers a reasonable opportunity to explain their circumstances and prove that they were legally employed.

“

As NLC our duty is to ensure that no genuine worker be permanently removed from the payroll solely on the basis of not captured during the verification without opportunity to explain his or her circumstance to present evidence.

Agwanwor said the union was prepared to work with the state government to resolve the issue. He stressed that the NLC would not defend illegally employed or underage workers, but argued that employees should not simply be removed when they may have been omitted from the verification exercise.

“

For those underaged we don’t have any support for those ones. Any other one that has illegal status in their employment should be put aside.