The Nasarawa State House of Assembly has urged chairmen of the 13 Local Government Areas in the state to be accessible to their people, give them a sense of belonging, improve their standard of living, and provide development at the grassroots.
The Chairman, House Committee on Local Government, Chieftaincy Affairs, and Community Development, Hon Mohammed Alkali, made the call when LG Chairmen, LG Speakers, DPMs, DFAs, and LG Service Commission appeared before the committee on their 2022 budgets performances.
According to Hon Alkali, Local Government is the third tier of government and is closer to the people.
” I urge you to continue with reasonable policies and programs so that the people will feel the impacts of dividends of democracy at the grassroots.
” I heard that some local government chairmen hardly go to their offices. If what we are hearing is true, it is not suitable for our democracy.
” I also want to urge you to maintain a good working relationship between you and your councilors in the interest of peace and development.
” You are also to establish and maintain a good working relationship with the Overseers of development areas in the state,” he said.
Alkali urged the chairmen to ensure a fair distribution of projects and other resources to various wards of the local government areas in the state.
He further charged the chairmen to carry along the councils’ staff and tackle absenteeism, lateness to duties, and other negative acts among their staff.
” You are called to establish a cordial relationship between you and staff of your council, carry them along while performing your duties,” he added.
The Chairman urged the chairmen to adhere strictly to the budget provisions of their respective councils.
He called on the Chairmen to employ more primary school teachers to restore the state’s lost glory of primary education.
Meanwhile, the ALGON Chairman and Lafia LGA, Hon Aminu Maifata, commended the committee for the excellent relationship between them and the House.
He has assured of their readiness to initiate good policies and programs that would directly affect their people’s lives.
The ALGON Chairman sought the committee’s intervention to enable them to access Value Added Tax (VAT) to tackle their council’s financial and other challenges.
Also appearing before the committee is the management of the Local Government Service Commission led by its Chairman, Sani Bawa, who appreciated the committee for supporting its activities to succeed.
Bawa said that the commission had trained many local government staff for effective and quality service delivery.
He has also commended Gov. Sule for his efforts in developing local government systems in the state.
The Chairman has solicited the support of the committee to address the challenges facing the commission.
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