Ex councillors drag government to Industrial Court over entitlements

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A Deputy Local Government Chairmen, Councilors and Supervisory Councilors who served between 2014 and 2017 in Anambra state have dragged the state government to Industrial Court over unpaid allowances, salaries, benefits and entitlements.

The group which also includes local government secretaries who served during the period told newsmen at on Monday that all efforts to get the government to pay them proved abortive.

They said they comprised those who were elected and worked in the 21 local government councils except Nnewi North Local Government Area.

The ex-council officials said that their tenure was illegally and abruptly terminated in 2016 by the state government whereas their tenure was supposed to elapse in 2017 as provided by the local government laws.

Mr Bestly Okoye, who signed on behalf of the ex-councilors, said the agitating group had engaged the the services of Falana and Falana Chambers who have filed the case at the National Industrial Court, Enugu State.

Their address was co-signed by Mr Paul Onuegbu for Supervisory Councilors, Mr Chijioke Onuora for Secretaries and Mr Emma Enwere for Deputy Chairmen.

Okoye said the had written letters to the Anambra Government over the matter through their solicitors on Aug. 27, Nov. 12, 2018 and pre-action notices to the 21 council areas except Nnewi North on and Attorney General of Anambra on Jan. 25, 2019 all without responses or payment.

“In spite of the pre-action notices, the local government councils still refused to pay our entitlements, we have filed our case at the National Industrial Court, Enugu, through our solicitor, Falana and Falana’s
Chambers and the case is due to commence in Oct. 21.

“We meritoriously served our respective councils from 2014 and 2017 before our tenure was abruptly terminated while the legislative houses were dissolved, we are entitled to our allowances and other fringe benefits at the dissolution of appointments as provided under the extant laws of Anambra,” they said.

The group expressed confidence that the Nigerian Judiciary would do justice to the legitimate demand to have their entitlements paid them.

“Anambra Government and the 20 local government councils have no justification for their failure to pay our entitlements, severance, salaries and other fringe benefits.

“We believe in the Nigerian judicial system and still strongly believe that the judiciary is the last hope of the common man,” they said.

Ihedioha tasks corps members on rapid agricultural development
Gov. Emeka Ihedioha of Imo has called on corps members to be veritable agents for rapid development of agriculture to improve conditions of living in Nigeria.

Ihedioha made the call on Monday at the official closing ceremony of the orientation course for the 2019 Batch ‘B’ Stream 11 corps members deployed to Imo at the NYSC Permanent Orientation Camp in Eziama Obaire, Nkwerre Local Government area.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the governor was represented by the Commissioner for Youths and Social Development, Mr Okechukwu Umez-Eronini, who is also the State Chairman of NYSC Governing Board.

The governor stressed the need to diversify the country’s economic base, adding that importance of agriculture to the growth of Nigeria’s economy could not be over emphasised.

He advised the NYSC to make painstaking efforts to establish farm settlements in selected local government areas in a bid to boost food production and create the needed employment for the people.

He urged the corps members to be extra vigilant and security conscious and report to the law enforcement authorities in their locality when they noticed any unusual occurrence or movement of strange individuals.

Ihedioha commended the NYSC management, board and critical partners and the Citizenship and Leadership Training Centre for their contributions to the successes recorded at the end of the orientation course.

He also commended the scheme for living up to the expectations in the state, saying government would continue to provide the necessary support, assistance and enabling environment for the NYSC to realise its goals.

The governor charged the corps members to put their experiences at the camp to bear, add value and contribute their quota to the Rebuild Imo Policy Initiative, which he said, encompassed environmental sustenance, rule of law, job creation and due process aside others.

Earlier, the NYSC State Coordinator, Mr John Eloeboh, said the corps members had been richly empowered to begin their primary assignment to contribute their quota to the growth and development of the state.

He appealed to the governor to consider the resumption of payment of state allowances to corps members in the state to motivate them to higher productivity.

Eloeboh advised the corps members to be loyal, disciplined, dedicated and resourceful and mix freely with the people of their host communities without fear or hindrance.

“I enjoin you to make concerted efforts to identify the people’s need in your host community and make diligent effort to solve the felt needs using the Community Development Service (CDC) programme as a tool,” he said.

The NYSC boss in the state also enjoined the corps members to kick start their post Skills Acquisition Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) programme in their host local governments in order not to waste the training acquired in the camp.

He commended all the stakeholders, the personnel of collaborating agencies, indigenes of the host communities and NYSC staff for the success of the orientation course.

Election Petitions Tribunal affirms Ekweremadu’s victory
The State and National Assembly Elections Petitions Tribunal in Enugu has affirmed the election of Sen. Ike Ekweremadu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the Feb. 23 general elections.

In a unanimous judgement delivered on Monday, the tribunal dismissed the petition brought by Mrs. Juliet Ibekaku-Nwagwu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as lacking in merit.

The Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Haruna Kereng, while reading the judgment, said that the petitioners completely failed to prove their allegations beyond reasonable doubt.

Kereng said that allegations of substantial non-compliance to the Electoral Act, thuggery, falsification of figures needed to be proven polling unit by polling unit.

He said that the few polling unit witnesses brought by the petitioners failed to demonstrate to the tribunal how the election figures were falsified.

He said that out of the 824 polling units, 81 wards and five local government areas in the state, the petitioners were only able to present 16 witnesses with most of them presenting testimonies that were not convincing.

“INEC had declared Ekweremadu winner with 86,088 vote against 15,187 scored by Ibekaku-Nwagwu. It is the responsibility of the petitioners to bring their polling unit agents to demonstrate to us how over 70,000 vote will be deducted from the score of the first respondent to make them winners.

“They only presented witnesses in few polling units and wards,” he said.
Kereng said that the petitioners ought to have pleaded two sets of results, including the wrong and correct results that would have returned them as winners.

He said that certain paragraphs of their petition contained criminal allegations and that the persons whom the allegations were made against remained hidden.

“Having failed woefully to prove their allegations that the first respondent was not elected by majority of lawful vote cast, we, therefore, affirm the election of the first respondent as winner of the election,” he declared.

Kereng awarded a cost of N750,000 against the petitioners.
Reacting, counsel to the first respondent, Mrs. Justina Offiah (SAN), described the judgment as thorough, adding that all counsels in the matter had put in their best.

Offiah requested for a conservative cost against the petitioners to serve as a deterrent to election losers who would want to approach the tribunal with flimsy petitions.

However, counsel to the petitioners, Mr Patrick Luke, said that it was the constitutional right of those who are declared losers in an electoral process to seek redress in a court of law.

“It is my humble view that all the parties should bear their costs because all the parties incurred costs,” Luke added.

Ugwuanyi admonishes corps members to shun banditry, cyber-crime
Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu state has warned corps members serving in the state not to engage in banditry and cyber-crime in the interest of national development.

Ugwuanyi gave the warning on Monday at the closing ceremony of the 2019 Batch ‘B’ Stream II National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) orientation course.

The governor, who was represented by Prof. Simon Ortuanya, Secretary to the State Government, described NYSC as a critical stakeholder in the crusade for crime-free society.

He said that every Nigerian should play active role in the struggle for national unity and development.

“Do not allow yourselves to be used to sabotage the country in any way. As youths, the future is yours and you must fight now to preserve it,” he said.

Ugwuanyi said that banditry, corruption and internet fraud had become hydra-headed monster stairing the nation in the face.

“I wish to reiterate the resolve of this administration to tackle all forms of banditry and kidnapping in the state,” he said.

He said that his administration had taken proactive measures to tackle insecurity by recruiting no fewer than 1,700 forest guards to complement the efforts of security agencies.

The governor further said that the recent inauguration of the Police Campaign Against Cultism and Other Vices would enhance security in the state.

He pledged the readiness of the state government to support the NYSC in achieving the set goals.

He also said that his administration was committed to the welfare and security of corps members in the state.

Earlier, Mr Stephen Dewan, the NYSC Coordinator in Enugu, urged the corps
members to respect the culture and traditions of their host communities to enable them to integrate easily.

Dewan attributed the success of the orientation course to the state government’s support and cooperation.

He, however, listed the lack of access road, inadequate accommodation and absence of internal link roads as some of the challenges facing the scheme in the state.

He said that it had become necessary to upgrade the camp facilities because of the increasing population of corps members mobilised annually to the state.

“The facilities are being over-stretched,” he said and appealed to the state government to support the scheme to overcome the challenges.

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