ALGON seeks four years tenure for council Chairmen By Dennis Agbo

BAN ON OPEN GRAZING: ALGON backs Southern govs' The Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, ALGON, has disclosed that top of its submission at the recently concluded national assembly zonal public hearings on the amendment of the 1999 constitution was its quest to extend the tenure of local government chairmen to statutory four years. ALGON, therefore, asked its members and affiliates to pursue the matter through persistent engagement with both National and States legislators to ensure that the amendment is enacted in the process of the constitution amendment. ALGON also said that it is asking for an increment of the federal allocation to the councils from its present 20.60 to 35.5 percent, so as to make the local government system more effective in its grassroots development. Furthermore, the association wants the state and local government joint accounts to be scrapped in order to free the councils from the stranglehold and domination of the state governments. ALGON made the disclosures at its third rotational National Executive Council meeting, just concluded in Enugu, where its National Publicity Secretary, Hon. Solomon Onah disclosed that other resolutions reached at the meeting included ALGON’s support to the issue of State Police so as to curtail the rising insecurity challenges. On the issue of the ALGON Comprehensive Primary Healthcare Centres, the NEC expressed its dissatisfaction and displeasure with the Contractor over the limited and poor number of projects executed across the country. NEC directed that the Contractor should move back to the site within one week and that an additional 300 PHCs should be completed, fully equipped, and delivered to ALGON on or before the end of August 2021. The association threatened to take necessary steps to enforce compliance by the Contractor. Onah said that ALGON has taken the initiative of bringing to an end ‘Multiple Taxation of goods and services, and illegal roadblocks across the country with National Anti Multiple Taxation Scheme, NAMTAXS, and National Transit Insurance Scheme, NATIS. “This will optimally address food security challenges, reduce the cost of goods and inflation in the country and strengthen the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the Local Governments and Area Councils in collaboration with the States, Federal Government, and their stakeholders. NEC is happy that the projects will seek to assemble all the road users and capture them into its tax net. NEC equally set up a five (5) man committee to properly harmonize all modalities for their take-off and report back in two weeks for implementation,” Onah said. On the sustainable paradigm shift to develop the capacity of members and collaborate with Local and International Agencies, NEC approved continuous engagement with key stakeholders. They also passed a vote Of Confidence on the National President, Hon Kolade David Alabi, for his inclusive leadership. Vanguard