The Governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Hon Agboola Ajayi has kicked against the composition of the transition committee for the 18 Local Governments and the 33 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) by the Ondo State government.
Also, the PDP through its Publicity Secretary, Mr Kennedy Peretei criticised the state government for setting up a transition committee in 33 LCDAs despite the court judgment that nullified the existence of the council areas.
The state government has constituted a transition committee for 18 local governments and Local Council Development Areas (LCDAS) of the state. In a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, Prince Ebenezer Adeniyan said the new helmsmen would run the affairs of the council areas pending the election into the council areas.
However, Ajayi who addressed the media on the action of the government said the action of the government is giving the citizens of the state a bad image among the committee of states in the country.
His words “We are still struggling and appealing on how to resolve the inconsistency and incompetent attitude of the present government as regards the creation of LCDAs only for us to hear this morning that he has appointed caretaker committee members for non-existent LGs and LCDAs.
“In law, as it is today, Ondo state has 18 Local Government Areas, even if we felt that it is legal for any democratic institutions to appoint caretaker committee members. You will remember that the PDP went to court to say that we cannot appoint a caretaker committee but you have to conduct an election so that the government can be very close to the grassroots.
“We expect them to conduct the election but the next we saw was the notification of LCDAs and that was part of their inefficiency and leadership failure and we are still trying on how we can amend that.
“This morning again, we heard that they have appointed members of the caretaker committee to all the nullified 33 LCDAs and the 18 local government areas structures of Ondo State and we felt that we should call the attention of the good people of the state to it maybe they don’t know that the Supreme Court is going to nullify the process.
“We keep repeating that what they are doing to the local government administration in Ondo state is wrong and criminal, they should allow local government administration to be run by the people at their various local government levels and the Supreme Court has spoken this morning and we want to thank the Supreme Court for putting the final decision to this matters.”
Similarly, Peretei in a statement said it was a flagrant disobedience to a court order for the state government to set up caretaker committees for non-existent LCDAS.
His words “On Thursday, 20th June 2024, Hon Justice A.O Adebusuoye pronounced the 33 LCDAs created by the Rotimi Akeredolu’s administration as inchoate and unlawfully created. The Court held that the Local Government Creation Law 2023 was unconstitutional, illegal, null, and void.
“Therefore, it is the height of lawlessness and impunity for Aiyedatiwa to appoint Committees for LCDAs that are non-existent in the eyes of the law.
The PDP wishes to advise the Governor to respect the laws of the land and stop embarrassing the people of the state with his actions that make us a laughing stock in the comity of civilized people.”