The government of Ondo State has suggested establishing a total of 33 new Local Council Development Areas, also known as LCDAs, inside the state.
During a press briefing, Bamidele Ademola-Olateju, the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, said that the state executive council gave its approval to the establishing of the LCDAs.
Ademola-Olateju claims that the expansion is evidence of the government’s dedication to decentralization and to enhancing governance at the grassroots level.
The state currently has 18 statutory local council regions, however the number of councils in the state will increase to 51 if the proposal is approved by the state assembly.
Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice Charles Titiloye indicated, while providing an insight into the proposed new LCDAs and their operations, that the LCDAs will serve the same tasks as the existing 18 councils in the state. This statement was made while Titiloye was discussing the proposed new LCDAs and their operations.
Titiloye noted that the government has already taken the required steps to bring the idea into effect, since the enabling statute for establishing the new LCDAs has been forwarded to the state House of Assembly for enactment. Titiloye further stated that the government has already taken the necessary procedures to bring the plan into action.
The Justice Commissioner insisted that the parliamentary process would guarantee the plan would be thoroughly examined and debated before it was turned into a law.
“This proposed bill was approved by the State Executive Council, and it is to be sent to the State House of Assembly for enactment in order to give it the necessary legal backing.”
In 2019, Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu received proposals for the creation of additional council areas in the state from an 11-member committee that had been established by the government to identify the necessary procedures for establishing new LCDAs. The committee was established to determine the necessary procedures for establishing new LCDAs.