…Demand Additional LCDAs from Govt

Opinion leaders drawn from the four Local Governments in the Ondo North senatorial district of Ondo State have demanded additional Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) for the Akoko area of the state.

Alternatively, the leaders under the auspices of Akoko Development Initiative (ADI), consisting of Akoko Development Group (ADG), the Akoko Consultative Forum (ACF), and the Oka Community, asked Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa to stop the operation of 33 LCDAs in the state.

In a statement signed by Mr Fola Amure and Chief Ibukun Rogbitan, the  Chairman accused the state government of showing deliberate disobedience to the judgment of the state High Court, which voided the LCDAs established under the 2023 law signed by the late Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu.

The statement recalled that on June 20, 2024, Justice Adegboyega Adebusoye declared the creation of the 33 LCDAs unconstitutional, null, and void for failing to comply with sections 7 and 8 of the 1999 Constitution.

The court also ordered the dissolution of the councils and restrained the government from taking further action on them. The
Akoko leaders said, despite the clear directives of the court, the state government has continued to operate the dissolved LCDAs, appoint personnel, and spend public funds on them.

They explained that prominent Akoko leaders, including former Deputy Governor Alhaji Alli Olanusi and elder statesman Basorun Seinde Arogbofa, had earlier visited Governor Aiyedatiwa, who promised to address the imbalance identified in the court ruling.

However, they lamented that nothing had been done months after, despite letters and reminders sent to the governor.

The Akoko leaders also faulted Governor Aiyedatiwa for allegedly presenting the dissolved LCDAs to the visiting National Assembly Committee on Constitutional Amendment for recognition, describing the move as “a deliberate affront on the people of Akoko and on the judiciary.”

While acknowledging that the state government had filed a notice of appeal, the Akoko leaders described it as a ploy to delay justice, saying the government had not taken any further steps to advance the case at the Appeal court.

The people called on Governor Aiyedatiwa to set up a new committee that would oversee a fair and inclusive process of LCDA creation across the 18 local government areas of the state.

They proposed that at least eight LCDAs should be created from the four Akoko local governments, namely North East, North West, South East, and South West, to ensure fairness and balance in the distribution.

The group urged citizens of the state and the general public to prevail on the governor to implement the recommendations, saying they are essential to maintaining peace and promoting development under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and Governor Aiyedatiwa’s Our Ease vision.

The statement read: “The Governor has taken some provocative actions that are of great concern and worry to us at Akoko Land. The Court made a declarative judgment and all reliefs granted therein were clear, straightforward, and objective. The judgment, if implemented, would ensure justice, peace, and development in Ondo State, but we do not understand the reluctance of the Governor to obey it.

“Despite the promise by the Governor to initiate actions to redress the lopsidedness in the injustice, all the actions from the government have served to delay the progress of the State while sustaining the illegality of working against the decisions of a court of competent jurisdiction in this matter.

“It is illegal to keep on sustaining the LCDA Law, 2023, which was abrogated by the judgment of the Court. It is an illegality for the Government of Ondo State under the leadership of Hon. Dr Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa to appoint and retain personnel into the structures of the 33 LCDAs, which were dissolved by the judgment.

“All the funds which had been expended on the running of the LCDAs since they were definitely set up are nugatory, illegal, and not backed by Law. The act of expending the money is illegal, unconstitutional, and a direct affront to the rule of Law.

“Akoko people in the four Local Government Areas in the North Senatorial District of Ondo State have not at any point throughout the disagreement embarked on any form of Violence to seek redress. Meetings were held with the Governor to state our position and demands.

“In the last couple of weeks, the Akoko Development Initiative, on behalf of the Obas, Leaders and the entire people of Akoko Land, forwarded a letter to the Governor, precisely on Wednesday, 20th August, 2025 and visited the Hon Attorney Gene and Commissioner for Justice to remind them to actualize the pledge of the Governor to correct the imbalance by obeying the judgment of the High Court of Ondo State.

“We acknowledge the fact that the Government has filed a notice of appeal, which we considered as a gimmick to create unwarranted delay, as the counsel to the Government has filed no processes to enable our lawyers to reply in court. We have refused to consider this action as deliberate sabotage.

“However, the action of the Governor to present the dissolved LCDAS to the visiting Committee of the National Assembly on Constitution amendment, to Ondo State, for recognition left a bitter taste in the mouth of the people because there is no justifiable reason for the Governor to hold Akoko Land and its people in disdain.

“In addition to the peaceful manner in which we have conducted our grievances, the result of the gubernatorial elections of November 2024 revealed the massive support of the Akoko people for the Governor; hence, this seemingly deliberate assault on our peaceful mien is frustrating and beyond understanding.

“We appeal to the Governor to graciously review the situation in the spirit of peaceful co-existence, to set the ball rolling to adjust the vexatious distribution of the LCDAs

“A fresh directive by the Governor should raise a committee to obtain the inputs and interests of the people of the state to create an equitable number of LCDAs across the eighteen Local Government Areas of Ondo State. To ensure equity and justice for the four Local Government Areas of Akoko in the North Senatorial District of Ondo State, a minimum of eight LCDAs should be created from the four Local Government Areas of Akoko North East, Akoko North West, Akoko South East, and Akoko South West.

“We are convinced that a dispassionate consideration and implementation of our request at 5(g) above will effectively douse the tension and ensure an amicable resolution of the needless empasse on the creation of LCDAs to ensure rapid and even development of the urban and rural communities of Ondo State under the RENEWED HOPE AGENDA of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the OUR EASE AGENDA of the Governor of Ondo State, Hon Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa.

“We invite well-meaning members of the Sunshine State and the general public to prevail on the Governor to accept the foregoing recommendations for implementation. They are the minimum requirements for ensuring a peaceful atmosphere for development in the State.”