LG Autonomy: NULGE commences nationwide rally next week

THE national leadership of Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) will commence a nationwide protest rally on Monday next week; in an effort to ensuring that the bill for Local Government Autonomy is passed into law by the State Houses of Assembly.

The protest rally, which will force the leadership of NULGE to storm major capital cities across the country, will start from Zamfara and Anambra States. It will end on Thursday 14 September, in Sokoto.

The acting General Secretary of NULGE, Comrade Chuks Aguonye, who said the union has concluded plans to embark on a peaceful rally across the 36 states of the country, pointed out that the union would hit 11 states between Monday 21 August and Friday 25 of August.

The rally according to NULGE is aimed at prevailing on State Houses of Assembly, most especially the state governors, to join the National Assembly who has already voted for Local Government Autonomy in order to free the Local Government councils.

In a statement signed by Comrade Aguonye, and made available to newsmen on Sunday in Abuja, NULGE noted that, the state governors were reasons behind the inability of the 7th Assembly to pass the Local Government Autonomy bill into law.

He said: “The two chambers of the National Assembly have passed the bill and has transmitted same in addition to other bills to state houses of assembly as required by law.

“Recall that the 7th National Assembly attempted to amend the 1999 Constitution which the National Assembly passed on the Local Government autonomy bill; unfortunately, it failed to get the two-third majority of state houses of assembly.

“Available evidence confirmed that the failure of the state assemblies to get two-third majority required was attributable to the dictates and influence of state governors who wanted to control the funds of Local Government Councils and this time around, the union will not allow what happened in the last assembly to repeat itself.

“In view of the above, the need for the national leadership to act and act fast has become necessary. Therefore, at the end of an emergency NEC meeting of the Union, it was agreed that rallies be held in the 36 states capital of the country, irrespective of the fact that such rally has been held before now or not.

“Accordingly, all state chapters of the union have been directed to mobilise all our members in the states for peaceful rallies on a date assigned to them as one of the programmes slated for this campaign at this stage.”

Lamenting the absence of President Muhammadu Buhari who he said promised to ensure the bill was passed into law under his watch, Aguonye, disclosed that the union has set aside a day within the week to offer special prayers for his quick recovery.