Gov. Samuel Ortom of Benue State will on Monday receive the “Life Patron of NULGE” award from the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE).
The Benue State Chairman of NULGE, Mr Terungwa Igbe, made this known in a letter of notification to the governor on Sunday in Makurdi.
In the letter, Igbe said that the National President of NULGE, Ahmed Lobbo, would be in the state for the conferment.
He said that the governor was being honoured in recognition of his support and “inestimable contributions to the emancipation of the local government system”.
“Gov. Ortom actively supported the passage of the Local Government Autonomy Bill by the 7th Benue State House of Assembly.
“The NULGE family in Nigeria resolved to appreciate you with this award because you are the first governor to have fully granted autonomy to local governments in Benue State by approving their participation as unions, including NULGE, in the state joint account,” Igbe noted in the letter.
The state NULGE chairman noted that the award, which was an initiative of the late NULGE National President, Comrade Ibrahim Khaleel, received the approval of the National Working Committee of NULGE before Khaleel’s death.
