ALGON urges councils to diversify revenue base to cushion economic hardship

Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON),Delta State Chapter has urged, authorities of local government councils in the country to diversify their revenue base to make the councils viable as well as cushion the effects of economic recession.

Sir Malik Itiako – Ikpokpo, Delta State chairman, ALGON, who spoke to journalists in Asaba, called on stakeholders of the councils to harness their areas of strength to push the third tier of government forward, noting that councils have in the last few years been at the federal government’s allocations to run their affairs.

His words: “Councils should not be at the mercy of federal government allocations to run its affairs, therefore, there is need for diversification of revenue base to meet the financial demands”, pointing out that there was need for the councils to be strong and viable.
Stating that as a result of allocations, local government councils had for a very longtime abandoned the drive for Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), while few collections ended in private pockets, the ALGON boss called on the councils authorities to fine-tune ways to restore and correct the ugly development , noting that the system had broken down for too long.

He further charged stakeholders to stop attending to issues that promote acrimonies, pointing out that there were many fallacies making the rounds across the councils and appealed to all to help revive the system for the benefit of all.

He reminded political office holders, civil servants in the various councils that a structure that works must be put in place to move forward the councils, especially in the areas of indiscipline and curbing fraudulent activities in the councils.

The ALGON boss said the ongoing verification exercise in Delta State was a step in the right direction, saying that some local governments have saved over N15 million naira from the result of the exercise and maintained that the leadership of ALGON is prepared to give the councils new direction, expressing optimism that salaries owed the workers would be paid.