Why Ondo LG creation was declared null and void – Lawyer

Babaleye said the court declared the creation of the LCDAs and nullified the 33 LCDAs in the state because they were signed outside of the state.

A legal practitioner, Tolu Babaleye, speaks on Channels TV’s Politics Today on June 20, 2024.

A legal practitioner, Tolu Babaleye, has given reasons why the Ondo State High Court in Akure declared the creation of the 33 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) as illegal and unconstitutional.

On Thursday, the presiding judge, Adegboyega Adebusoye, said LCDAs were not lawfully created.

It comes nine months after former Ondo State governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, signed the bill a day after his return from a three-month medical leave.

Shortly after the court’s ruling, Babaleye said the court declared the creation of the LCDAs as illegal and nullified the 33 Local Council Development Areas in the state because they were signed outside of the state.

“The law that was made by the House of Assembly was signed outside the shore of Ondo State and the court did what I call ‘judicial tsunami’ and hacked down that law,” Babaleye said on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday.

“That brought an end to the 33 local governments. Even though the governor was trying to say that what they created was LCDA and not local government, but when you look at the law creating it, the title is, ‘Ondo State Creation of Local Government Law 2023.’ The intention of the lawmakers is very clear that what they wanted to create is a local government.”

According to the lawyer, Section 8 (1 to 5), the requirements for creating local government is clearly spelt out in the nation’s constitution.

He said the court explained that the constitution was not followed in the creation of the LCDAs last year, arguing that the governor should not have signed the bill outside of the state.

Source: Channels