21st July, 2023
The Benue State workers employed in the public sector have recently gone through a period of untold hardship and deprivation met as a congress on Friday the 21st July, 2023 at IBB square and after due deliberation on the performance of the NLC leadership of comrade Terungwa Igbe in the state, the congress resolved as follows;
1. The leaders of the NLC have not only distanced themselves but severed all communications with the workers by their refusal to call congress and have frustrated several attempts by workers pressure groups such as “the Save Benue Workers Movement” to urge them to call congress meeting and defend workers interest were rebuffed and the leaders in cahoots with the immediate past government unleashed untold hardship and victimization on such workers
2. That there have been an abysmal failure to protect the welfare of workers, workers right and interest amounting to the loss of workers statutory benefits such as:
i. Death benefit
ii. leave bonus
iii. First 28 days
iv. Unacceptable delay in promotions
v. Non-implementation of N30,000 minimum wage
vi. Non-compliance of pension 10% by the government
vii. 3 years of non-payment of pension to pensioners etc
3. That there have been proven incompetence to represent workers and press for the payment of salaries and pension leading to the non-payment of workers for upward of 12 months in the state civil service and local government and 14 months for primary school teachers.
4. The NLC leaders became so integrated with the immediate past government and were attending joint account meetings with the government, hobnobbing with the government officials while workers and their families were dying of hunger, disease, insecurity and sicknesses in their homes. This sell out became so obvious that on several occasions the immediate past governor told the world in media outings that he was on good working relations with the labour leaders in the state which was the reason why there were no strikes over the issue of non-payment of salaries (if he has been owning).
5. The unbecoming silence signifying acquiescence by the labour leaders during the recent irregular recruitment of thousands of job seekers into government service in the state and the extortion of N12,500 from each of them by the immediate past government when they were not paid salaries shows clearly a leadership that has not only sold out but lost focus.
6. The unusual high and ever-increasing, deductions of dues from workers salaries by the labour leaders has turned them from defenders of workers interest to an instrument for the oppression and exploitation of workers and pensioner who live in squalor while the labour leaders feed fat at the expense of workers.
7. That the leadership of NLC connived with the past administration and the impeached formal Joint Negotiations Council Chairman (Comrade Dennis Nyam) to frustrate the negotiations of the consequential adjustment of the minimum wage.
8. In the light of the above the leadership of the NLC labour in Benue State, that is, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has divorced from the interest of it constituency and followership and by a grand betrayal of this interest has lost the confidence of Benue Workers who elected them to office. Under this condition the ground for their existence has been eroded and they have lost their justification for existence.
We the Benue Workers in a congress meeting here at IBB Square on Friday 21st July, 2023 hereby after due deliberations have unanimously passed a vote of no confidence on the existing State Administrative Council of (NLC) in Benue State lead by Comrade Terungwa Igbe. The leadership is hereby dissolved with immediate effect. In its place congress hereby put in place the following as the interim leaders:
NLC
i. Comrade Aba Terlumun Moses as chairman
ii. Comrade Kachi Douglas Terwase as Member
iii. Comrade Unalegh Francis as Member
iv. Comrade John Baaki as Member
Signed :
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