Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State, has described the ongoing withdrawal of services by local government workers as unfortunate, warning that it has plunged council areas into administrative paralysis and inflicted hardship on grassroots residents.
Speaking with journalists in Osogbo on Sunday, the former lawmaker urged workers to return to their duty posts immediately to prevent a total collapse of local government administration.
Oyintiloye lamented that for over a month, essential services such as healthcare, administrative functions, and marriage registries across local councils had been crippled due to the workers’ strike. He noted that pregnant women have been unable to access routine immunization, while job seekers requiring official documentation have been left stranded.
“The shutdown of clinics, primary healthcare centers, and council secretariats has placed immense hardship on the people,” he said. “Since we have elected chairmen in place, there is no justification for this industrial action.”
He further called on the leadership of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to remain apolitical and not allow themselves to be used to frustrate governance at the grassroots.
To ensure workers’ safety, Oyintiloye assured that local council chairmen would collaborate with security agencies to create a secure working environment. He emphasized that the situation in affected council areas had been brought under control, paving the way for normalcy to return.
Commending members of a faction of NULGE, operating under the banner of the Association of Concerned Local Government Staff, for their willingness to resume work, he also cautioned the state government against employing divide-and-rule tactics to undermine local government administration.
“The workers must put the interest of the people first and resume their duties without further delay,” Oyintiloye stressed.
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