By Praise Chinecherem
The Anambra State Chapter of Nigeria Local Government Employees (NULGE) has assured to prioritize peace, harmony and welfare of the local government workers in the 21 local government areas of the state.
NULGE President, Comrade Nicholas Aromeh who made the pledge during a press interview in Awka underscored the importance of peace and harmony in the overall development of the union in the State.
He refuted alleged factions of the union, urging aggrieved members operating from other side of the road to sheath their swords and embrace the affairs of the union.
“As far as I’m concerned, the union from the federal level down to the local government councils have no factions toady, the only thing I want now is peace so we will always speak with one voice in the matters that affect us in the state and elsewhere in the country.
While vowing that his interest and that of NULGE were about the welfare of the workers in the local government areas across the state, Aromeh warned workers who make unhealthy utterances about the corporate image of the union to desist forthwith.
“The only thing I am saying is that they should come, if they come, I will welcome them, so that there will be peace and harmony in the system,” he said.
“This office is tenured, it is four years office, this one now I have assumed will be put to an end in 2027, may be November or December.
“If they have interest to join, let them come and pick forms,” Aromeh added.
He affirmed that there would be an advertisement for sales of the forms and other criteria on how the election would be conducted, calling on the interested members to come when the time comes to pick the forms, fill them and go to campaign to test their popularity at the polls.
He reminded them that, if they are popular that the workers would cast their votes for them as the majority and they would become part of the executive body of the union, pointing out that one person cannot just wake up in the morning and began to say that he is the NULGE president in Anambra State .
Comrade Aromeh, who told the people that things are not done that way, maintained that the only thing the aggrieved should do is to pick forms during the time of the election to indicate their interest and take them to their respective local governments for countersigning by the appropriate authority and return same to the secretary of the union in his office at the union’s secretariat in Awka and go out there for campaign.
The NULGE boss, who emphasized that the date of the election would be fixed by the national body of the great union, opined that once the date of the election is fixed and election conducted that the contestants who scored the majority of votes in each of the office contested for, will emerge the winners and they automatically become part of the executive, saying that there is no magic about it.
The Comrade, who spoke among other things debunked the rumour making round that he was aligning himself with one of the factions in the union and described such allegation as untrue.
“I am in the office for the entire staff in the twenty -one Local government areas of the state.
“So I don’t have friends, I don’t have enemies, I am here for everybody and my office is open from Tuesday till Friday. My phone lines are very open too”, he stressed.
The president assured that once a local government worker calls and asks questions, that he would put the person through, noting that he had never aligned himself with anybody and will never do so with any group.
Speaking further, the president said that he was not comfortable with the activities of the aggrieved faction in the union because they are part and parcel of the union in the state who pay their own percentage of money for up keep of the union.
He lamented that he was not happy that they are making mistakes, stating categorically that they are not aggrieved, but making mistakes through misunderstanding and misconceptions.
“So NULGE is one, let them come and tell me what their problem is all about for permanent solution, so let them come in, I am not happy that people give wrong information and impression about our union”, he cries out.
Comrade Aromeh, who expressed his unreserved willingness to offer explaination on how the NULGE office is being run to the doubting Thomases among them, said that a good number of the people in the union are being deceived and do not know what they are doing in the union.
“That is the way I put it, they don’t know what they are doing, so let them come in so that explaination will be made before them for them to understand and come back to the union for promotion of the workers welfare”, he said.
He highlighted the readiness of the executive council of the union and the state executive council (sec)to extend their hands of fellowship and tentacles to the entire member of the union in the twenty -one local government areas of the state so they should always move in the same direction.
