LG Autonomy: Osun Assembly passes amendment bills

The Osun State House of Assembly has passed two bills amending the Osun State Local Government Area Creation and Osun Electoral Commission Laws in conformity with the Supreme Court judgement on local government financial autonomy.

The amended bills are: the Osun State Local Government Areas Creation and Administration Amendment No. 7 Bill 2024 and the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission Amendment No. 1 Bill 2024.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the assembly passed the bills after they were read for the third time during plenary in Osogbo, the state capital, on Tuesday.

The speaker, Adewale Egbedun, said clean copies of the bills would be forwarded to Governor Ademola Adeleke for assent.

NAN recalls that the Deputy Majority Leader, Adekunle Oladimeji, had, on 29 July, said the amendments were in line with the Nigerian Constitution and the Supreme Court judgement.

Mr Oladimeji said this while reading the policy thrust of the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission Amendment No. 1 Bill.

According to him, the judgment granted financial autonomy to the 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs) recognised by law.

“The Osun Independent Electoral Commission (OSIEC), in line with Section 197 of the Nigerian Constitution, is to conduct, organise and supervise all elections into local councils in the state, in accordance with the law.

“Amendment of the OSIEC Act is necessary to avoid a conflict with the Supreme Court judgement.

“It is also to strengthen the local government system, so people at the grassroots can enjoy the dividends of democracy,” he said.

Adewumi Adeyemi, (Obokun State Constituency), also, on 29 July, read the policy thrust of the Osun State Local Government Areas Creation and Administration Amendment Bill.

He said that Section 7(1) allowed for the existence and running of local governments by elected officials.

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Mr Adeyemi added that section 8 of the constitution empowers state assemblies to ensure, through enacted laws, that local government administrations exist, and their financing guaranteed.

He noted that with the Supreme Court judgment, Local Government Development Areas (LCDAs) and Area Councils were not recognised by the constitution as being among the 774 LGAs in Nigeria.

“The Osun State Local Government Amendment Bill will, when passed into law, take care of the local government structure and compositions of executives,” he said. (NAN)