Workers in Imo State have kicked out the state chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Austin Chilakpu, after a resolution reached on Monday at the meeting the workers held at the state secretariat in Owerri.
A caretaker committee led by Ndubuisi Uchehara was set up to manage the affairs of the union pending a legitimate election.
Addressing reporters shortly after his emergence as the caretaker committee chairman, Uchehara said that the past administration was dissolved for constantly waging war against the Imo State Government which he said caused an unhealthy relationship between the union and the government.
‘The past administration was recalcitrant to issues of the workers in the state, they have continued to fight the State Government instead of partnering with it, their actions have caused the workers a lot, you can not continue to use force on the government, they have been doing that without result and that we have come to correct.
‘Labour does not fight with the government, it works in good relations with it. We want to partner with the government to improve the welfare of workers in the state.’
He also appealed to the governor to see to the delayed promotion of workers in the state which he said last happened in 2014.
Governor Hope Uzodinma, while receiving the leadership of the caretaker committee at the Government House, noted that his main agenda is to make the civil service work again, promising to work harmoniously with the union.
‘The secretariat used to be abandoned and dilapidated, we gave them water light and even up to the extent of completing uncompleted structures,’ the governor said.
‘I’m totally disappointed that the workforce was already hijacked by politicians when we came on board. Those benefitting from the old process of payment did everything to frustrate our efforts. Thank God we have been able to pay the workers up to date.’
