Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State has vowed to increase the existing 20 local councils in the state to at least 50 through the creation of new local council development areas (LCDAs) immediately after the governorship election on February 28. The move will make government closer to the people at the grassroots, according to him.
Amosun, who spoke at Ibooro in Yewa North Local Government Area on Monday, as part of his governorship re-election campaign, declared that the local council development areas would have been in full operation before the end of first tenure in May.
While explaining that necessary steps had been taken for the creation of the LCDAs before it was hindered by lack of finance as a result of dwindling federal allocations, the governor noted that the government plan was to create about 30 LCDAs in addition to already existing local government areas.
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He said: “We have concluded plans on the creation of the local council development areas. It would have come before today, but due to some hitches, which is mainly, finance. But I can assure you now that we are more than ready. Most states in the country are having like 30, some like 40 and you need to see these states, they are half of Ogun State.”
“To enable our people to benefit more from the good governance we are witnessing now in the state, it is very important that we create the local council areas. I can’t say off-hand now how many we plan to create, but I can tell you that we will be having something around 50 altogether after creation.
“We would have done it now, but some people may say it is politically-motivated, I want to assure you that by March 1, 2015, we will announce the names of the local council areas because I have the assurance that by the special grace of God and with the support of the good people of Ogun State, I will be returning to office to continue the good work we have started.”
The governor, however, declared that the present Yewa North Local Government would be splited into three, namely, the Yewa North LG, Ketu LCDA and Iju LCDA.
