Rivers NULGE Expels Two…Over Claims Of Caretaker Committee membership

Following a motion moved by the Chairman of Akuku-Toru local government Area (AKULGA) branch of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees, NULGE, Mr Opubo S.D. Briggs, the duo of Mrs. Gladys Nweye and Mr Bright Agbovu, who parade themselves as chairman and secretary respectively of the Rivers State Caretaker Committee of NULGE, have been expelled by the State Executive Council, led by Barr. Franklin Ajinwo, as President.

In his motion during the meeting  of the State Executive Committee of NULGE in Port Harcourt yesterday, Comrade Briggs  highlighted the dangers inherent in the claims of Mrs Nweye and her group, adding that most members of the union at the grassroots level have suffered embarrassment which could lead to insecurity and destabilisation  of the peace in the state, considering the high level of alleged  anti-union activities involved in their claims.

Earlier, the President of NULGE in Rivers State, Barr. Ajinwo had highlighted  the activities of some disgruntled elements  in the union, recounting extensively   the legal  angles that arose after the disputed National Delegates’ Conference of NULGE in October last year.

Comrade Ajinwo, elected on Friday December 18, 2009, explained that there was no legal basis for caretaker committees at any level, stressing that Hon. Justice Sylvanus Chinelu Orji, of the Federal High Court in Abuja, was explicit in his ruling in Suit NO. FCT/HC/CV/1914/2009 which crushed any charge of contempt of court to substantiate claims that elections did not hold in Calabar during the National Delegates’ Conference.

Furthermore, Ajinwo stated that “if there was ever a reason to constitute caretaker committees, especially at the national level, all  the state presidents would  have been called to a meeting, as members of the National Executive Council (NEC) of NULGE, to ratify such action”, noting that  “only seven dissident state presidents cannot take or ratify such organ”.

He warned against continued embarrassment of branch officials of NULGE in Rivers State by the purported Gladys Nweye-led caretaker  committee and called on security agents, especially the Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Suleiman Abba, to stop her in time before the workers revolt.

Interestingly, members of the caretaker committee of NULGE in Emohua local government area have dissociated themselves from the antics of Gladys Nweye and her group through a public announcement yesterday.

Comrades Isaiah Ordu, Enoch Amadi and Frank Amadi said that they would wish to “dissociate themselves  from the NULGE Caretaker Committee, constituted by some lawless and selfish members of the union, led by Gladys Nweye,   and would not be part of a plot to cease power by force nor polarise the union”.