DOCUMENTS have shown that the actual accumulated official leave of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) General Secretary, John Odah, is three years and this has thrown the union into confusion.
The Guardian gathered that since plot to force Odah to resume in November 2012 has failed, there is a fresh move by loyalists of NLC President, Abdulwahed Omar, who are allegedly ripping from the crisis to stop Odah's salary and eventually remove him.
It was learnt at the weekend in Abuja that Omar had in 2007, commuted Odah's leave spanning nine years from 1999 to 2007, to cash and consequently paid him.
According to the document, the accumulated leave is only for three years between 2008 and 2010. With this, Odah will now be expected to resume in July, since he
started his leave in March. How to respond to Odah's letter pointing out these administrative lapses is said to be causing confusion.
Odah's letter read in part: "The facts are that, as in many establishments, my accumulated leave for 1999 – 2007 was commuted to cash and paid to me in 2007. You, Comrade President, approved the letter permitting the leave for nine years
to be commuted to cash. You approved the payment. The documents are there. This
means that the only period for which I have accumulated leave is 2008 – 2010; that is only three years."
In an earlier letter to Odah by Omar, November 2012 date was set for his
resumption and the new reality that Odah's leave is only for 90 days may have destabilised junior officers who are preparing themselves to supplant Odah.
In his latest letter to Omar, Odah also pointed out that against the belief that he became the General Secretary of NLC in 1998, his actual
confirmation as General Secretary of Congress was done in December 2001 at the NLC National Executive Council meeting held in Abuja.
The NLC scribe further pointed out that the alleged manipulations that have characterised his going on leave made it impossible to effect any proper hand over.
According to Odah, all the four letters he had received on the subject-matter contained one contradiction or the other and he had strenuously written back to point out these ambiguities. He, therefore, fears that the accusation that he refused to hand over might be used as an excuse to justify his eventual removal.
"Comrade President, you and I know the tradition of Congress. Is that how, in a normal situation, a General Secretary of Congress is asked to proceed on leave and hand over? You should admit that the procedure that has been adopted from the onset in respect of this matter has, in itself, been a hindrance or an obstacle to any smooth hand over. From the first letter, which was full of
ambiguities, to the last two letters (both dated 25th March, 2011 but which were delivered on separate days), no conducive atmosphere has been created for the genuine resolution of the issues at stake. Indeed, I hope that the new
allegation that I have refused to hand over is not a ploy to put into effect the final set of punitive actions which, I hear, are being contemplated against me, such as stoppage of my salary, suspension or outright removal," Odah stated.
Source: Confusion in NLC over Odah's accumulated leave (http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=45181:confusion-in-nlc-over-odahs-accumulated-leave&catid=1:national&Itemid=559)