OSOGBO -- THE Association of Concerned Local Government Workers, ACLGW, in Osun State, yesterday, urged workers returning to work to eschew violence and adhere to the ethics of their professions.
Recall that the leadership of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees, NULGE, in the state has ordered its members to resume work after an 11-month industrial action over a clash between All Progressives Congress, APC, and Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, elected council officials for control of council secretariats.
Addressing newsmen on behalf of ACLGW in Osogbo, its Chairman, Mr Adekunle Adedayo, disclosed that its members have resumed work since August 2025, saying the councils have been peaceful and would not be pleased to jeopardise the peace for anything.
Adedayo said: "Let us comport ourselves within the ambit of the law. What should be paramount to us is how to utilise the autonomy given, to better-off the live of the grass-roots people, our career, and the development of local communities. With autonomy in local government system, we foresee great things ahead of us, let us show the world that we can manage it and succeed so as to put impostors on our freedom to shame.
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"We have been working at the councils since last year August and till now, there was a crisis across the 30 local government secretariats, hence, our members and the others from NULGE should act within the confines of the law for the development of grassroots.
"The issue of tenure determination for the reinstated Chairmen and councillors, elected on the platform of the APC, is already a matter before a Court of competent jurisdiction."
; hence, no worker or union leader should bother themselves with it. The matter should be left for the court to decide and in the meantime, any genuine workers should work with officials legally backed to oversee the activities at the council secretariats."
Adeleke, APC laud police over protection at LG secretariats
Meanwhile, Governor Ademola Adeleke and the All Progressives Congress, APC, have commended the police command's decision to neutralise any threat to peace across the state.
Adeleke, in a statement by his spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, described workers under NULGE to resume work as a positive development for the grassroots.
He added that the police decision to strengthen security across the council area secretariats in a bid to nip any security issue in the bud as a welcome development.
He said: "As much as I'm commending the NULGE leadership, I must also appreciate the Inspector General of Police, the Assistant Inspector General of Police for Zone 11 and the Osun State Commissioner of Police for their commitment to provide security cover for lawful resumption of activities at the various council secretariats.
"The police command has acted responsibly to prevent anarchy and violence being plotted by some elements. The prompt action of the police has nipped any untoward happening in the bud across our secretariats. We hope to see the Command following through on its directive against the evil plot to disrupt workers' resumption of duty."
While disclosing that his administration is not against local government autonomy, he said: "The presidential decision on local autonomy has good intentions of devolving good governance to the local level. We support it. What we, however, advocate is that the rule of law and due process must never be sacrificed on the altar of political shenanigans."
Also, the APC Director of Media and Information in the state, Mr Kola Olabisi, commended the zeal with which the police are handling the "absconded workers" decision to resume back to duty.
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Olabisi said: "The police approach to the issue of the resumption of the absconding local government workers is a demonstration of professional zeal, which is a necessary attribute in a genuine democratic dispensation.
"We are not unmindful of the superlative constitutional roles of the Nigeria Police and other sister statutory security services who have been keeping peace at the various local government council areas since the reinstatement of the APC council chairmen and councillors by the Court of Appeal on February 10, 2025.
"We are also assuring the good people of Osun State that since the absconding council workers have changed over a new leaf, the development would translate to the rapid development at the grassroots level of government in the state in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu."
