The Oyo State government has disclosed that it would be implementing the 2002 gazetted law creating 35 Local Council Development Areas out of the existing 33 Local Government Areas in the state.
The government stated that this move was in response to a correspondence from the Oyo State House of Assembly, requesting the executive arm to create LCDAs in order to facilitate development at the grassroots.
It would be recalled that the State Assembly’s sitting on Thursday, June 16, 2016, discussed a motion bothering on the creation of LCDAs.
Addressing journalists after the weekly Oyo State Executive Council meeting at the Head of Service Conference Room, the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Dr Gbade Ojo, who was assisted at the briefing by Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Seun Abimbola, and his counterparts from Information, Culture and Tourism and Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Messrs Toye Arulogun and Bimbo Kolade, said that the creation of the LCDAs would hasten development in local communities and bring government closer to the people without incurring additional expenses, as workers on government payroll in the existing local governments would be distributed to the LCDAs.
He stressed that the resolution of the House was extensively discussed at the weekly executive council meeting and ratified by members, adding that, 35 LCDAs would be created in line with political and zonal administrative structure of the State.
This includes 14 LCDAs to Ibadan zone, 2 to Ibarapa zone, 4 to Oyo zone, 7 to Ogbomoso zone and 8 to Oke-Ogun zone.
Ojo added that the Ministry of Justice has been mandated to present an executive bill to the State House of Assembly to change and implement a law gazetted by the late Lam Adesina administration.
Speaking at the briefing, the State Attorney General, Mr. Seun Abimbola said, “We are only implementing a law gazetted as far back as 2002 by Lam Adesina’s administration due to intense pressure from all quarters to have even representation in governance and we shall maintain this status until the process gets to the National Assembly for constitutional seal to change the nomenclature form LCDAs to Local Government Areas.”
In his comments, the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy, Mr. Bimbo Kolade assured the people of the financial capability of all the 33 local governments in the State to be divided into LCDAs, while adding that names of the LCDAs would soon be announced after the State House of Assembly must have concluded its part of the process.
While speaking at the briefing, the state Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Mr. Toye Arulogun commended the citizens of the state for their support and compliance in the renewed Internal Generated Revenue drive by the government.
