Court scraps Ondo’s new LCDA law, declares it unconstitutional

A high court in Akure, the Ondo State capital, has nullified the creation of an additional 33 local council development areas, LCDAs, by the administration of late former Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu.

The Presiding Judge, Justice A.O Adebusuoye, who delivered the ruling on Thursday, declared the creation of the LCDAs unconstitutional and illegal.

DAILY POST recalls that the Ondo State House of Assembly had passed the bill for the creation of the 33 additional councils on August 15, 2023, which the former Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu signed in September last year.

The 33 LCDAs were to co-exist with the 18 LGAs, bringing the total number of local councils in the state to 51.

The court also held that it was illegal for a governor to sign a law outside the state.

Recall that the bill had been presented to the late governor by the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Oladiji Olamide, during a ceremony at the governor’s residence in Ibadan, Oyo State.

However, in a ruling on Thursday Justice Adebusuoye declared the LCDAs, illegal, null and void, inchoate and unlawfully created.