By SOJI-EZE FAGBEMI, Abuja

The Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) has vowed to mobilize all its members and Nigerians to protest and resist the plot by the political elites, especially members of the National Assembly to delist the local government as the third tier of government, through a constitution amendment.

Besides, the union has threatened to shut down all the 774 local governments in the country if the members of the National Assembly persist in their “anti-people plot,” to remove the local government from the constitution.

National President of NULGE, Comrade Ambali Akeem Olatunji, who was speaking with journalists at the weekend in Abuja said the union has written to the leadership of the National Assembly, especially the House of Representatives, to voice their opposition to the bill, and also demanded that the union be invited for discussion within the next two weeks.

He pointed out that strike is imminent and will be the ultimate if the legislators remain adamant, but he added that there will be a mass protest first before “we will likely shutdown all local governments across the country.”

He expressed sadness that a representative of people from Rivers State could come up with such a bill, when their governor, Nyesom Wike was a product of local government and a former local government chairman.

Comrade Ambali said: “We also know that this is a serious challenge to local government, and we are saying this, very soon if we engage them (NASS) and the leadership is not doing what is needful, we might direct our members to shut down the country in all the 774 local government, but we hope that they will not allow it to degenerate to that level.

“Once you delist local government as a tier of government, it shows that you have killed local government. Even, now that the local government remains a tier of government, the governors are pauperising local government and there are a lot of swindling of local government funds.”

He added: “That’s why they are not allowing democratic elected leadership at the local government level. What they are doing is to appoint their cronies as caretakers in local government so that they will continuously impoverished local government.”

The NULGE President pointed out that if the local government is made to work properly, “we will get it right in Nigeria.,” adding, “we’ve seen the issue of insecurity, but if local government system is working properly, we will create employment and develop along a progressive line. We will have meaningful development and growth across our communities.”

He regretted that while the country was moving towards actualising local government autonomy through an amendment to the constitution, members of the house are engaging in diversionary issues.

He stated that 70 per cent of Nigerians live in the local government, and called on them to rise up to defend the local government system.

He said: “Once there is no local government autonomy or a delisting of the local government as a tier of government, then you have condemned majority of the Nigerian people to poverty and continuously become enslaved in their own country.

“That will bring in anarchy, amplify insecurity and that will continuously hype poverty level and joblessness.” (Sunday Tribune)

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