An ex-Chairman of Okitipupa Local Council Area of Ondo State, Abayomi Adesanya, at the weekend lashed out at Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa for allegedly not taking action over the scrapping of the 33 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) by a State High Court sitting in Akure, the state capital.
Adesanya, a Senior Special Assistant to the Deputy Senate President, who accused Aiyedatiwa of tactically not supporting the LCDAs, urged the governor to appeal the judgement for the sake of posterity and in honour of his late boss, former Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, who he said strived to ensure the establishment of the LCDAs for the benefit of the people at the grassroots.
An Ondo State High Court nullified the LCDAs last week in a judgement after describing their creation by the late Akeredolu as illegal and unlawful.
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The pioneer APC Publicity Secretary in Ondo, in a statement, stressed that Aiyedatiwa should take the blame for the development and emphasised that the nullification of the LCDAs posed a threat to the victory of the party in future elections in the state.
He said: “Since 1999, successive governments of Governor Adebayo Adefarati, Governor Olusegun Agagu, and Governor Olusegun Abayomi Mimiko have tried to bring government closer to the grassroots through the creation of more Local Council Development Areas, but to no avail, for lack of political will.
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“Whereas, a young state like Ekiti, created in 1996, not as rich as Ondo, during Governor Kayode Fayemi, created more LCDAs out of the existing 16 local government areas. Similarly, Osun State also created more Local Council Development Areas during Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s tenure.
“Hence, a dogged Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, who fought many battles within the APC-led Federal Government, like the establishment of ‘Amotekun Security Network’ to curtail the invasion of killer herdsmen killing our people every day, led the first ever Southern Governors’ Forum to demand the Southern President in the 2023 general elections, which produced President Bola Tinubu, among other reforms within the APC and APC-led government.
“After 24 years of failed attempts by previous governments, Akeredolu had the political will, in conjunction with the State House of Assembly, to create 33 LCDAs to bring governance closer to the people.
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“Rather than commending him (Akeredolu) and fortifying the LCDAs with relevant laws and amendments, I don’t want to believe Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa surreptitiously allowed the 33 LCDAs to slip off the people of Ondo State, because posterity will not forgive him.
“I, therefore, advise Governor Aiyedatiwa to appeal the decision of the State High Court nullifying the creation of the 33 LCDA. He should strive to bring it back to life and to avoid being accused of destroying all the legacies of his boss, Akeredolu, as various communities have also spent so much to build secretariats for the new LCDAs.”
Meanwhile, the Lucky Aiyedatiwa Campaign Organisation Foot Soldiers Independent Council (LACO-FSIC), through its spokesperson, Kayode Fasua, had earlier absolved Aiyedatiwa of being behind the court judgement.
