Court declares 33 LCDAs created by Akeredolu illegal

• PDP’s candidate, Ajayi, condemns ruling
• Akoko leaders say judgment true position of law

An Ondo State High Court sitting in Akure, the state capital, has declared that the creation of the 33 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) by the late Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu is unconstitutional and illegal.

According to the presiding judge, Justice A.O. Adebusuoye, the LCDAs were not lawfully created.

Akeredolu had in September 2023, signed the bill establishing the LCDAs into law a day after his return from a three-month medical leave after it was passed by the state’s House of Assembly on August 15, 2023.

The newly-created LCDAs co-exist with the 18 local councils in the state, bringing the total to 51.

The judge held that it is illegal for a governor to sign a law outside the state he or she governs.

Meanwhile, counsel to the 22 plaintiffs, Tolu Babaleye, while addressing journalists after the court session, said the court held that the creation of the 33 LCDAs was “unconstitutional, null and void.”

He said: “So, the governor has no right under the law to go to Ibadan to sign the law. Because of that, the law was nullified, declared unconstitutional and of no effect.

“As I talk to you now, Ondo State has reverted to 18 local councils.”

Meanwhile, a governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Agboola Ajayi, has condemned the court, which nullified the creation of the LCDAs.

Ajayi said the judgment was anti-people and would hinder the development of Ondo communities.

The governorship aspirant, who accused the administration of Aiyedatiwa of backing the suit, said the people preferred a government that is close to them.

He said the governor also filed a suit against council autonomy.

But the Akokoland leaders, under the umbrella of Akoko Development Initiative (ADI), who filed the suit, said the decision of the court represented the true position of the law.

A statement signed by the claimants in the suit said the judgment represented the true position of the law and the aspirations of the people of the four local councils of Akoko.