In a bid to stop harassment and multiple taxation on commuters on the national highways, the leadership of the All Local Government of Nigeria, ALGON and the National Union of Local Government Employees, NULGE, have launched what they called ‘Operation Wipe-out Touts on Nigeria Highways in 2020. The launch of the new ALGON-NULGE Certificate attracted Controllers of Mobile Adverts from all over the country in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory.
Speaking at the occasion, President of the Joint Mobile Sanitation Agency of Nigeria, JMSAN, Godwin Dukeson said that the new certification was to sanitize and harmonize the operations of all agents. Dickson explained that the certificate was a brainchild of the collaboration between ALGON and JMOSAN occasioned by the displeasure and the charge by the National Assembly to ALGON since March 2017 urging her to curtail the excesses as well as put a stop to the molestation, extortion and multiple taxation of commuters on the nation’s highways.
He said the position could not take effect until recently when a new leadership of ALGON emerged, because of some internal leadership crisis. According to him,” The Association of Local Governments of Nigeria has requested the partnership of JMSON to help fight the multiple taxation being imposed on members of the public by Local Government Agents. ”The partnership will take effect from January 2020.” Dukeson said that the new leadership of ALGON gave JMOSAN the mandate to sanitize the activities of Mobile Adverts’ operators to ensure that no other agency or agent collects government revenue. He added that with effect from January 2020, anyone caught with any Certificate other than the new ALGON-NULGE Certificate will be penalized.
It will be recalled that the public outcry on the unholy activities of some Mobile Adverts’ Agents on Nigerian highways got to the National Assembly and an immediate directive was issued from the federal legislature to ALGON in March 2017. This is expected to bring relief to commuters from January 2020 as touts and all manner of unscrupulous elements who mount roadblocks on the highways posing as revenue collectors for local government will cease to be. In attendance at the meeting were the leadership of JMOSAN President, Mr Godwin Dukeson, Secretary, Alhaji Aminu Yunusa, BoT Chairman, Chief Nnamdi Ogbogbo; NULGE Executive, Chief Nicholas Ekwo and ALGON leadership representative, Comrade Venatius Okafor. Also in attendance were local government agents from Lagos, Kano, Kogi, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Kaduna, Niger, Delta, Nasarawa, Enugu, Anambra, Imo among others. Vanguard
