The Ondo State Government has proposed the creation of 33 new Local Council Development Areas, LCDAs, in the state.
The Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Bamidele Ademola-Olateju, disclosed during a press briefing that the state executive council approved the creation of the LCDAs.
According to Ademola-Olateju, the expansion reflects the government’s commitment to decentralisation and improving governance at the grassroots level.
With 18 statutory local council areas in the state, the number of councils in the state will swell to 51 if the proposal gets the nod of the state legislature.
Charles Titiloye, the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, while giving an insight into the proposed new LCDAs and their operations, stated that the LCDAs would perform the same functions as the existing 18 councils in the state.
Titiloye stated that to bring the proposal into effect, the government has already taken the necessary steps, as the enabling law for establishing the new LCDAs has been forwarded to the state House of Assembly for enactment.
The Justice Commissioner maintained that the legislative process will ensure the proposal is properly reviewed and debated before being enacted into law.
“This proposed bill was approved by the State Executive Council and is to be sent to the State House of Assembly for enactment to give it the necessary legal backing.”
In 2019, Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu received recommendations for creating additional council areas in the state from an 11-member committee set up by the government to determine the necessary procedures for establishing new LCDAs.