The Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), has called for a review of the national revenue sharing formula, saying the lopsided nature of the present formula, which gives the federal government the lion share makes it difficult for development to reach the grassroots.

This is just as the newly inaugurated Interim Caretaker Committee of the association, Dr Emmanuel Loman, chairman of the Plateau State chapter of ALGON, has promised that his committee would be committed to conducting a credible election that would enthrone a new national executive of ALGON.

Speaking after its inaugural meeting in Abuja yesterday, Loman said that while the organ was in support of full local government autonomy, it, however, was of the view that against the notion that some state governments are prone to hijacking local government funds, the real issue was the restructuring of the federal revenue sharing formula, which would give more percentage to the local governments as they were more pivotal to the needs of the people and can easily enhance speedy national growth. Loman, who disclosed that his committee had been put in place to conduct elections for a substantive ALGON executive, regretted the crisis the association was plunged into in the past. He, however, promised a new dawn in ALGON as the local government chairmen in the country were more determined than ever to add to the nation's developmental strides.

"Following the court order which sent the Nwabueze Okafor-led executive packing, we the interim management committee of ALGON, after our inaugural meeting, have resolved to provide the enabling environment for a free and credible election.

"All the 774 local government chairmen in the country have pledged to unite in constituting a new ALGON that will entrench further democratic values and ensure faster development in the country," Dr Loman stated.

Members of the Interim Management Committee are spread across the six geo-political zones. They include Dr Emmanuel Loman (chairman, North-Central), Prince Cornelius Nnaji (Enugu, South-East), Khalid S. Ibrahim ( Jigawa, North-West), and Hon. Karetimi Oluwole Felix ( Delta, South-South). Other members are Maina D. Gana (Yobe, North-East), Olarenwaju Ibrahim (Osun State, South-West) and Barr Amodu Okandeji (Kwara, North-Central).

The ALGON Interim Management Committee was inaugurated last week following a court ruling, which ruled that the tenure of the Nwabueze Okafor-led committee had expired, and therefore, ordered the inauguration of the committee to conduct fresh elections.