NLC blasts FG over withheld Osun LG funds, backs striking workers

…Says Federal Government is not above the law By Victor Ahiuma-Young The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has condemned the continued withholding of local government funds due to councils in Osun State, declaring that the Federal Government is not above the law. The labour union also expressed solidarity with striking local government workers in the state, urging the Federal Government to release the funds without further delay to enable the councils to discharge their statutory responsibilities.

The NLC said the non-release of the funds had inflicted considerable damage on governance at the local government level, with wider consequences for workers and affected communities. In a statement signed by its Acting General Secretary, Benson Upah, the Congress described the continued withholding of the funds as unjustifiable and urged the authorities to respect court decisions.

“We express solidarity with the striking workers of Osun State in pursuit of the release of the withheld local government funds and urge the Federal Government authorities to release those funds without further delay,” the statement said. The labour centre argued that the continued non-release of the funds had undermined local government administration and adversely affected the delivery of services to residents.

“There is no justification whatsoever for the continued seizure of these funds other than to prove the point that the Federal Government is above the law. “However, we do not need this level of intimidation or arm-twisting in a democracy,” it added. The NLC further accused the Federal Government of selectively obeying court decisions, insisting that government authorities could not choose which judicial pronouncements to comply with.

“The Federal Government cannot cherry-pick which decisions of courts to obey and which it will not,” the Congress stated. It commended the striking Osun local government workers for maintaining decorum in their protest and urged them to sustain the peaceful conduct of their industrial action. “We commend the Osun workers for conducting themselves with utmost decorum in prosecuting this action, and we urge them to keep it so… always peaceful,” the statement added.