"I Have a Mandate to Deliver in Etsako East" Hon (Princess) Benedicta Tells NULGE

The performing Chairman of Etsako East Local Government Area, Hon. (Princess) Benedicta Attoh has told the Executive committee members of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) that she has a mandate to deliver to the people of Etsako East local government area and such onerous task can't be accomplished without the overwhelming support of the civil servants who she described as the engine room of operations.

According to her, "I have no other mandate in Etsako East Local Government than to make life worth living for the people of Etsako East. The welfare of workers is a core mandate that must be taken care of. I am ready to meet the needs of NULGE but you have a role to play for me to be able to meet your requirements."

"Local government staff cannot be richer than the local government but that is what is happening in Etsako East. Some civil servants are richer than the council. They collect revenue and put it in their pockets yet want the council to also meet their needs. The more revenue we generate the more I can have to deliver on my mandate. So NULGE have to talk to their members."

She maintained that the civil servants and the political class are partners in progress but Politicians don't collect IGR it is the civil servants which means our rise and fall depend on the civil servants. I was in Agenebode market to personally monitor the activities of revenue collectors because the revenue being generated is too small, she said.

The Council Chairman who was visibly angry against the high level of poor staff attendance said, the September salary she signed indicated that the Council has about 526 staff but she has never seen even a hundred staff since she assumed office saying NULGE has to change the narratives as revenues from Okpella axis is quite poor despite workers the huge economic activity going on in the area.

On the issue of staff welfare raised by the union, Hon. (Princess) Benedicta Attoh expressed the need for workers to reside in their local government and not lament about the high cost of transportation when their decision to stay out of the council area was optional. For those coming to Agenebode from Okpella and Ivie environment, she has promised to liaise with vehicle owners in their council coming from those areas to bring workers on an agreed fuel subsidized support from the council monthly.

While responding to the issue of palliatives as raised by the NULGE the Executive Chairman said no civil servant has been deprived of any government palliative as no physical palliative was brought to the council for civil servants that was not delivered to them. The palliatives are in the form of transportation and not cash. On the issue of advances raised, she described the fears of NULGE as needless as their advances can't be stopped but lamented about her public image that was ridiculed in her last tenure when some civil servants collected advances without retiring them saying such cannot be allowed to continue.

Speaking on the issue of the 13th-month salary and Christmas packages raised by the union, she assured that the council will consider the issue of the Christmas package but cannot guarantee them the issue of the 13th-month salary unless there is such provision. She thanked members of the union for their patience over the issue of salary backlog as presented assuring that they will have a good and harmonious working relationship without rancour.

Earlier in their presentation, the Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress Etsako East Chapter who is also the Chairman of NULGE in the Council Comrade Abu Moses, tabled catalogs of issues as it concerns workers' welfare saying workers' welfare is the major affair of the union and they must not fail to pursue the core mandate.

He eulogised the Chairman for her motherly disposition during her last half tenure in the council stressing that her impact cannot be denied while admonishing her to redouble her efforts in meeting worker's demands assuring that she will get all the needed support she needs from the staff of the council to enable her accomplish her mandate to the people of Etsako East.

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