….Describes Them As Poster Examples Of True Grassroots Democracy

The ALGON National President, Hon Aminu Mu’azu Maifata has expressed profound appreciation to Governor Duoye Diri of Bayelsa State, Oyo State governor, Seyi Makinde, and his Gombe State counterpart, Governor Mohammed Inuwa Yahaya for their support for a democratically elected local government system.

Hon Maifata was speaking at the weekend while playing host to some Journalists when he received in audience some progressive community groups who payed courtesy call to him at Lafia, the state capital, to further congratulate him on his successful emergence as the new ALGON National President.

He thanked them and was quick to point out that a system of local government under a democratically elected officials is under the section 7 sub 1 guaranteed, which means sacrosanct, iron cast and no equivocation.

“So, Nigerians have in my one month of assumption to office seen three states having conducted elections in their local governments.

“It is a good omen and speaks good of the obvious signs in the future. We can only thank them and urge our new men to respect their Governor’s, their mandate, their Oath of office and the people.

“We shall not rest in this course until all LGAs are democratically compliant.

“Mr. President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu is in our support, the Senate in December last year voted expressly for the withdrawal of funds of LGs to any state that does not run the Councils with elected officials. the Councils.

“The NFIU is watching and the mass Media are taking stock, including the people. We appeal to INEC and it’s SIEC to keep eyes on the ball.

“We can only get it right if the system is strengthened and not practiced in breach”, the ALGON National President said.

Hon. Maifata added that “it is important to say at this juncture that just like every other civil servants needs living wage which is the minimum income necessary for a worker to meet their basic needs, the Local Governments are in more painful need.”

Asked how such could be realized, Maifata said that “This wage will help in tracking labour productivity which is a function of the availability of means to cater for food, housing, clothing, education, medicare and other essential needs in the communities, it will work because what is good for the goose is good for the gander and LGAs are worst hit, in terms of lack of basic means of livelihood.”

For ALGON, he noted, “what we are saying and appealing is for the goal of a living wage to be realized which will allow every local government worker to afford a basic but decent standard of living through employment without government subsidies, this has eroded the people since the exit of colonial administration under Native Authority (NA).”

Hon Maifata went further to say that ALGON as an umbrella of all the 774 local governments and area councils does not need a wage that is dead on arrival – (hand-to-mouth) or one that can fail to meet the requirements for a basic quality of life.

He pointed out that local government workers have suffered enough as they represent the very poor rural population which are under their financial assistance and economic dependence in perpetuity.

“We don’t need a wage that will likely leave them to either rely on externalism like going to farms during work hours or embarking on government programmes for additional income or resorting to fraud and thats why ALGON recently partnered with the Economic and Financial Crime Commission in curbing corrupt practices in workplace as our patriotic contributions to fighting corruption.

“We need a unified wage of our own across LGAs and Councils, it is not a rocket science. It is practicable and we are consulting and even asking the for a reversed allocation where the local governments will get 45.17 so that the federal government will be receiving 21.04 that the RAMFAC gives to the LGAs, while the state will receive 29.7.

“Even internationally, experience has shown that living wages have typically only been adopted in municipalities or Councils which share similarity with the local government system here.

“ALGON is already with an incisive Memoranda representing the conscience of the 774 and Area Councils in Nigeria and we are mobilizing responsibility for a favourable out come in the proposed amendment of the 1999 constitution so as to have meaningful legal demographic threshold and political will to vote the amendment. We are conscious of possible red flags from some states Assembly to House of Reps and Senate.”

In his view, “the grassroots are in for good times under my leadership as the ALGON National President, and we can’t take this opportunity for granted.”

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