No vacancy in ALGON — Deputy president

The Deputy President of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Itiako Ipkopko, says there is no vacancy in the association.

Ipkopko, who is also the ALGON Chairman in Delta State, in an interview with Daily Trust yesterday, described the purported leadership change in the association as the handiwork of mischief makers.

Dapo Olagunju, who said he was the Public Relations Officer of ALGON, had last week in a communiqué issued at the end of the Abuja meeting, claimed that the present leadership at the national level had been dissolved and replaced with another led by Gambo Tanko Kagara of Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State.

Ipkopko said Alhaji Ibrahim Karai remained the association’s president, saying the Abuja National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting convened by the national caucus of the association had nothing to do with leadership change in its agenda.

“These are people we have been calling for meetings over time; but suddenly, when they heard that we want to discuss money, everybody decided to come. And unfortunately too, some of them are new. Don’t forget that in ALGON, soldiers go, soldiers come, but barracks still remain.

“In any way, the president convened that meeting with a specific agenda. But unfortunately, the meeting didn’t start at 8 pm. We started about 9 pm. And the agenda was simple: reports from the states and briefing by the president and any other business.

“There was no election. There is no vacancy. So, how can there be election?

“Karai was Chairman of Karai Local Government and Chairman of ALGON in Kano State. Along the line, the governor dissolved them and re-appointed him immediately. So, that was what they thought was a vacancy,” he added.