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The Oyo State House of Assembly has said that it supports the creation of Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) in the state.
Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Adebo Ogundoyin made this known at plenary on Tuesday. He however said that the house will constitute an adhoc committee to look into all the activities of the council areas in the last one year.
His words: “We are Nigerians first, before any religion or political affiliation and Oyo state is still part of Nigeria.
“We are not against the creation of LCDAs, because we also desire development in rural areas, which can be made possible when government is brought close to the people.
“The house will constitute an adhoc committee to investigate all activities of the Local government and LCDAs since May, 2018.”
He however pointed out that while elections should be conducted into the Local Government Areas, administrators should be appointed to run the LCDAs.
He urged Governor Seyi Makinde to “urgently consider reconstitution of the OYSIEC that will organise fresh, free and fair elections into Local Government councils in conformity with the provisions of the laws, while administrators should be appointed into LCDAs.”
In a motion moved at the sitting, the house majority leader and the lawmaker representing Ogbomosho South, Hon. Sanjo Adedoyin, said that the decision of the commission to conduct elections in 35 LCDAs created by the immediate past administration in the state was unconstitutional.
“The decision of OYSIEC in May, 2018 to organise elections into LCDAs in the State is unconstitutional, ultra vires, null and void because it negates the provisions of Section 4(a) part II of the Third Schedule to the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“An amendment to Section 5(a) of the Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission Law, 1999 ought to have been sought or initiated by the government to accommodate the inclusion of the conduct of elections into LCDAs in the State by OYSIEC, but it empowers OYSIEC to conduct elections into Local Government and not LCDAs,” he said.
The house had earlier backed the recent decision of the governor to dissolve the board of OYSIEC.