Lagos Assembly Moves to Scrap LCDA Created By Tinubu, Reason Emerges

• The Lagos state House of Assembly is making a move to scrap the LCDAs created in 2003 by President Bola Tinubu when he was the state's governor
• According to the new proposed bill to amend the local government law in the state, the LCDAs would be recreated into administrative areas
• Bisi Afolabi, a legal practitioner who spoke with Legit.ng on the development, said the Nigerian constitution did not recognise the LCDAs

The Lagos state House of Assembly is planning a major overhaul of its local government structure. The House wants to replace the existing 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) with new administrative areas.

These LCDAs were created back in 2003 by President Bola Tinubu during his time as governor of Lagos state.

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Key provisions of the bill:

1. The bill sought to recognise the 20 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in the state as outlined in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
2. It will consider the existing LCDAs as Area Administrative Offices to enhance local governance efficiency
3. 37 Area Administrative Councils to serve under the 20 LGAs, managed by Area Administrative Secretaries appointed by the Governor
4. LASIEC to Conduct Elections for the 20 constitutionally recognized LGAs
5. Repeal of Local Government Administration Law 2015 and its 2016 Amendment

According to The Guardian, the bill coincides with the recent Supreme Court ruling granting financial autonomy to local governments across Nigeria, requiring democratically elected local government bodies to access federal funds.

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However, stakeholders like the Ayangburen of Ikorodu, Oba Kabir Shotobi, and Senator Musiliu Obanikoro have expressed concerns about the potential impact on grassroots development and the lack of publicity surrounding the public hearing.

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Bisi Afolabi, a legal practitioner, spoke with Legit.ng. He posited that the Nigerian constitution did not recognise the LCDAs and that the state did not have the power to create local governments in the state.

He said:

"The question of the scrapping of the LCDA does not actually arise in the eyes of the law to start with; LCDAs are a creation of the State Government, which does not have powers to create any level of government.

"The power to create Local government under the Constitution in Section 7 and 8 thereof is vested in the National Assembly; the State Government has no power ab initio to create any additional local government apart from the one already created by the Constitution. Therefore, the LCDAs are illegal entities."

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Speaker of the House, Mudashiru Obasa, sees the bill as a significant step in optimizing local governance, addressing tenure and separation of powers within LGAs for greater accountability.

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The chairman of the House Committee on Local Government Administration, Hon. Sanni Okanlawon, emphasized that the public hearing aimed to gather feedback for refining the bill before its passage into law.

Reactions as Lagos governor eats boli in public

Legit.ng earlier reported that Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the governor of Lagos state, has been seen eating roadside roasted plantains, also known as Boli.

Sanwo-Olu's action happened at the Grand Finale of the 2024 World Food Day Celebration in Ikeja, the state capital.

The governor's action has started generating reactions from Nigerians, and some were of the view that the governor was doing that for a third term, but it is obvious that Sanwo-Olu would not be contesting again based on the constitution's position.

Source: Legit.ng