Lokoja LG legislative council calls on Kogi Sate government to release Stadium to it
By Yabagi Ahmed
In an effort to address some of the perceived injustices that Lokoja Local Government has suffered in the past, the Legislative arm of the council has in a motion called on the Governor, Capt Idris Ichalla Wada, to rescind the state government’s decision to convert the Lokoja Township Stadium to a Democracy Square.
In a motion raised during a special sitting of the legislature at the council secretariat in Lokoja last week, the councilor representing Eggan Ward, Hon Ahmed Mohammed, said Lokoja has made too many sacrifices to Kogi State since it was created in 1991.
According to the mover of the motion, some properties owned by the LGA that were leased for the temporary use of the State government have not been returned to it and without the remittance of the revenues generated from some of the properties and structures.
Hence, he informed his colleagues that there is a letter before the Executive Chairman of Lokoja Local Government to convert the said Stadium to Eagle Square to which he bemoaned the lack of a place that would engage the youths in sport which he described as a tool for unity and development.
He therefore prayed the council to resist the action of the state government and that the Lokoja Township Stadium is returned to the LGA for the daily training of the youths and to improve the Internally Generated Revenue of the council.
Seconding the motion, the Councilor representing Kupa South, Hon Idris spoke on the need to address some of the injustices being suffered by the council, and called on members to give the motion an accelerated hearing.
Earlier, youths in Lokoja, led by the leadership of the national Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), had in a peaceful demonstration called on the State Government to return the stadium to the Lokoja Local Government Area as it is the only arena that the people use for their sporting and outdoor activities.
Meanwhile, the legislative arm of the council has in a motion called on the Lokoja Local Area to establish a Primary School in Bataku, one of the villages that constitute Kupa North Ward in other to enhance education in the ward to address the disadvantage being suffered by the area.
The motion which was moved by the councilor representing Kupa North, Hon Shehu Ismail prayed the council to resolve and send a resolution to the Executive Chairman, Hon Aliyu Usman to establish the primary school.
Similarly, the Chairman of the legislative coucil’s Committee on Agric, tractor and Hiring Services, Hon Musa A O Abdullahi, has in a motion, called on the Executive Chairman to include the generation of Internally Generated revenue from agricultural and natural resources in the newly proposed by-law.
