IBRAHIM QUADRI
In July 2024, the Supreme Court gave a landmark judgement- it is unconstitutional for state governors to hold onto funds meant for Local Government (LG) administrations. The Apex Court also barred State Governors from dissolving democratically elected Local Government councils in the country.
Following the ruling by the highest court in the land, pundits have raised concerns over the fate of 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) in Lagos. The concerns are in response to the fact that these councils areas in the State are not listed as recognized local government Areas. The 1999 constitution only listed 774 councils. But since the tenure of President Bola Tinubu, then as Governor of Lagos, the 37 councils have been operating with elected chairmen for nearly two decades.
However, a new twist to convert the 37 LCDAs to Administrative Areas has hit a rock as stakeholders across the State have kicked against the move to give the power of appointing them to the State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
At a first Public Hearing in the Lagos State House of Assembly on “A Bill for a Law to provide for Local Government’s System, Establishment And Administration And to Consolidate All Laws On Local Government Administration And Connected Purposes,’ many attendees voiced out their displeasure to have those LCDAs converted.
The initial proposal in the Bill stipulates, “As from the commencement of this Law, the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) shall conduct elections into the twenty (20) Local Government Councils in the state as recognised by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as altered). The twenty (20) Local Government Councils shall have designated Area Administrative Offices as listed in the 1st Schedule to this Law for effective and efficient local government administration in the State.
“Each Local Government Area will have its headquarters in the place names in the third column of Schedule 1 to this Law. There shall be thirty-seven (37) Area Administrative Councils in the State with the names specified in Schedule 11 of the Creation of Local Government Areas (Amendment) Law of 2004,” the Bill stated.
It was added that each Local Government’s Administrative Council shall be headed by Area Administrative Secretary, who shall be appointed by the Governor subject to the confirmation of the House. The Bill had stated further that each Area Administrative Council shall be funded by the Local Government Area under which it falls.
Moreso, it was stated that each Local Government Area has the power to delegate any of its functions to the Area Administrative Council falling within the territory of the Local Government Area. “Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any other law, each Area Administrative Council will retain all the rights, interests, obligations and liabilities, which became vested in or attached to it under any contract or instrument, or on law or equity, all the time it was operating as a Local Government Area.
“Subject to the provisions of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Act, the State Electoral Commission, LASIEC, shall divide each Local Government Area into such number of wards, not being less than twelve (12) or more than forty (40) as the circumstances of each Local Government Area may require,” the Bill had read.
The proposed law, in Section 30, stated that the Governor shall have the right to suspend any Chairman or Vice Chairman or any elected official/political appointee, which it said shall at the expiration of such suspension resume office and shall notify the House upon resumption of office.
As a result of controversy that was generated over the proposal, the State House of Assembly on Monday 21 October resolved to conduct another Public Hearing on the local government administration Bill.
To cement the new approach, the House also invited the Attorney-General of the State, Lawal Pedro (SAN), for an interpretation of the Supreme Court judgement on financial autonomy for local governments.
The Speaker, Rt Hon. Mudashiru Obasa who presided over the plenary calling a second hearing, noted, “I agree on the need for us to schedule a second allotted day for the public hearing,” the Speaker said while adding that he had been inundated with calls by people who wanted to know the fate of the LCDAs.
“We are not scrapping the LDCAs. Rather, what we are trying to do is to look at the recent Supreme Court judgment in terms of Lagos and local government’s joint account and fashion out a way where the parent local governments and the LDCAs work together without the LDCAs shortchanged,” he added.
The Speaker also agreed on the need to work for the formal listing of the LCDAs by the National Assembly. He said, “Kano has 44 local governments and out of Kano, Jigawa was created and has 27.”
Subsequently, the House held a second Public Hearing on Thursday 24 October where Obasa represented by his Deputy Speaker Mojisola Meranda, said, “We are gathered here to consider and reflect on a Bill that seeks to further enhance how our third tier of government should be administered.
“The LCDAs have come to stay and they would remain so by the special grace of God. Nobody is killing the LCDAs. Instead, we have come to say here is the Supreme Court judgement; how do we go about it? I know we all have the interest of this state at heart.
“Did we follow the right part in creating the LCDAs? The answer is ‘yes’. So at this point, it is a call for every Lagosian to rise up and protect the LCDAs by reaching out to all our representatives at the national level.
“Our representatives and senators should lobby their colleagues there. We will continue to do our part and we are doing it to ensure that the 37 LCDAs are listed in the constitution,” the Speaker said.
Obasa stressed that the Bill also made mention of four-year tenure for the elective offices in the local government, which, according to him, has finally removed the ambiguity of the past as regards tenure of these elective officers.
The Bill, he said, has elaborated all that needs to be done for an effective administration of the local governments including declaration of assets, nomination of a chairman, removal of a chairman or vice chairman, discharge of functions of the chairman, local government area supervisors appointees, executive powers of the local government, street naming and many more.
With the latest development, some of the clauses in the Bill have therefore been expunged and replaced with provisions to strengthen the 37 LCDAs for elective positions as it used to be instead of converting them into Administrative Areas.
For instance, section 4(3) of the Bill states: “The 20 local governments shall have designated local council Development Areas as listed in the First Schedule to this law for effective and efficient local government administration in the State.
Similarly, section 4(1) of the Bill further states: “There shall be 37 Local Council Development Areas in the State with the names specified in Schedule II of the Creation of local government (Amendments) of 2004.”
Speaking after an overview by the Majority Leader of the House, Hon. Noheem Adams, a Lagos-based lawyer, Muiz Banire (SAN) identified some clauses in the Bill that needed further inputs.
Banire argued: “The import of the Supreme Court judgement is simple. The State Governor does not have the power over council chairmen, if any council chairman misbehaves, it is the councilors that can decide on what to do.”
He also advised that section 38 of the Bill should be expunged, noting “It is no longer legal for the Ministry of Local Government to be issuing guidelines for local governments.”
However, Banire was countered by a former Deputy Speaker of the House, Hon. Kolawole Taiwo, who said: “The constitution gives power to the State House of Assembly to create local government, the law has been tested, our LCDAs have been in existence but only not listed.
“Nobody can say the law is not in existence, I was the Majority Leader as at then. You are saying the House should not have the power to do some things again; we need to be very careful. We know some governors are making nonsense of the local governments but Lagos is an exemption.”
Corroborating the position of Taiwo, another former Deputy Speaker of the House, Hon. Funmilayo Tejuoso said: “When you have a child that does not have a name, does it mean that the child is dead? It simply means that the LCDAs are still existing. The Supreme Court has recognized them, we are only waiting for the constitution to reflect the LCDAs.”
She therefore stated that the LCDAs should continue to exist, noting “We shouldn’t throw away the baby with the bath water.”
Also speaking, Imam Ibrahim Tijani from Itire-Ikate said he supported the continued existence of the LCDAs.
A stakeholder, Ajose Agbejoye, suggested that elections into local government councils should start six months before the expiration of the four-year term of a current administration so that electoral issues would have been settled before the swearing-in of a new chairman.
President of Greater Lagos Initiative, Adeniyi Olutimehin also appealed to the House to allow the LCDAs to continue to function irrespective of whatever amendments it makes to the Bill.
Going by the sensitivity attached to grassroots development and tactical move by the Lagos Assembly to have a rethink over the fate of the 37 LCDAs in the State especially in getting the inputs of every stakeholder, it underscores the pertinent need to get ripples settled for good governance of the State. This is even more important since the council election in the State is in no distant away. The second public hearing is therefore a welcome development and efforts should gear towards having a law that will not only strengthen the grassroots development but takes care of collective interest of all Lagosians irrespective of party, political or tribal affiliations.
