From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The House of Representatives is proposing a bill for the listing of the 37 Local Council Development Authority (LCDA) created by the Lagos State government during the tenure of President Bola Tinubu, as governor of state, in the constitution.
The proposed legislation sponsored by the member representing Lagos Island 1 Federal Republic Constituency of Lagos State, Dalopo-Badru Enitan and the 23 other lawmakers from Lagos State, is titled “A bill for an act to alter the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 to give effect to the creation of additional local government councils in Lagos State and for related matters.”(HB1866).
The government had in 2023 created 37 LCDAs in addition to the 20 local government areas recognized by the 1999 constitution to bring the number of council areas in the state to 57. The LCDAs are “Agboyi-Ketu , Ayobo- Ipaja , Agbado-oke-Odo , Apapa Iganmu , Bariga , Badagry West , Coker Aguda, Eredo, Egbe- Idimu , Ejigbo, Eti-osa East, Igbogbo/Baiyeku, Ifelodun , Ikosi-Ejinrin, Ijede, Igando- Ikotun, Ikosi Isheri. Others are Iganmu, Ikorodu west, Itire-Ikate, Iru/VI , Ikoyi-Obalende, Ikorodu north, Iba, Imota, Lagos Island East, Mosan-Okunola, Oto-Awori, Olorunda, Onigbongbo, Odi-olowo-Ojuwoye, Orile Agege, Oriade, Ojokoro and Igbogbo/Baiyeku, Ojodu.”
However, the Federal Government during the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo had withheld the federal allocation to local government areas, the state, on account of creation of the LCDAs. Nevertheless, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, on assumption of office in 2007 released the withheld allocations to the Lagos State government.
In the aftermath of the Supreme Court judgment on financial autonomy for local government councils, the Lagos State House of Assembly introduced a bill to scrap the LCDAs and replace them with a new administrative structure.
Regardless, the proposed legislation, which has already scaled first reading and awaiting second reading is seeking an alteration of the first column of part 1 of the First Schedule to the 1999 Constitution (as amended) to get the LCDAs listed as local government areas in the country.
The explanatory memorandum states that the “Bill seeks to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,1999 (as Amended) to give effect to the provision of the Constitution on creation of new Local Government Councils in Lagos State.”
Section 8(3) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) empowers the state House of Assembly to create new local government areas, while Section 8(6) of the constitution requires a state House of Assembly to make returns to each House of the National Assembly on the creation of local government. The Federal legislature is expected to effect an alteration of the constitution, in line with extant laws, before the newly created local government councils are listed in the Constitution