Daily Independent Online.
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Friday, July 02, 2004.
We’ll not confront FG, govs, new
council chairmen pledge
By Chesa Chesa,
national assembly correspondent, Abuja
Basking in the euphoria of their recent elections
after two years of waiting anxiously, local government chairmen gathered in
Abuja on Thursday and pledged not to do anything that would pitch their
councils against the federal or the state governments.
Speaking under the umbrella of the Association of
Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), the chairmen, who elected Baver Dzeremo
from Benue State as their new president, said they would rather employ
“acceptable means of lobbying and dialogue” in their rlationship
with other tiers of government.
“ALGON of yesterday that took confrontational
posture against other tiers of government is dead,” declared Dzeremo who
is chairman of Tarka Local Government Council of Benue State.
“Ours will be considered as a partner in
progress with other tiers of government. We will shun confrontation and
arrogance and bravado. Instead, we will seek the use of dialogue and accepted
means of lobbying to achieve our goals,” he added.
He said the current crop of chairmen have decided to
embrace and defend democracy and would cooperate with the National Assembly and
other stakeholders in the process of amending the constitution to make local
government administration more effective.
Chairman of the House Committee on Local Government
Affairs, Terngu Tsegba, said the
House of Representatives would next month conduct a public hearing on the Local
Government Reforms Bill presented to the National Assembly by President
Olusegun Obasanjo.
He explained that this was to give everybody,
including the council bosses the opportunity to make their input.
