South-South LG Workers Take Protest To Rivers State Assembly Demand Autonomy

Local government workers in Rivers State have trooped out en-masse to the state House of Assembly demanding autonomy for full financial and administrative system for local governments.

The workers from the South-South region staged the protest in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, on Wednesday to press home their demand.

The workers marched from the Labour House in Rivers State to the state House of Assembly to submit their protest letter to the Speaker of the House.

The speaker was however not on ground to receive the protesting workers but the member representing Onelga Constituency 1, Christian Ahiakwo, received the letter on his behalf.

Read Also: Nigerian Artiste, 2Baba Hands Over Multimillion Naira Music Studio To OAU

Presenting the letter to the lawmakers, the Chairman of the Rivers State council of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Beatrice Itubo, appealed to the lawmakers to “vote YES’ when the bill arrives at the House.

The workers are also demanding for approval of “independent candidacy” ahead of the 2023 general election.

Also Speaking, the National President of the National Union of Local Government Employees said “eighty percent of Nigeria’s problems would have been solved with the approval of financial autonomy for the local government system”.

During the latest constitutional amendment process, the National Assembly approved the full autonomy for the local government.

However two-thirds of the state Houses of Assembly in Nigeria is required to approve the bill before it can scale through.