Raging fire over LCDAs

Everyone thought the issue of the Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) has died a natural death. But recently President Umaru Yar’Adua brought the issue to national consciousness. In a letter to Lagos Governor Babatunde Fashola, the president directed the Lagos helmsman to disband the 37 new LCDAs and revert back to 20 local government recognised by the 1999 constitution within 14 days.

He said failure to do that; the federal government would take appropriate steps to defend the Nigerian constitution. Miffed by the president’s letter, Fashola sent a strongly worded reply to the presidency. He told the president in clear terms that he would do no such thing.

That was how both men returned to the trendes to continue with the war started by their predecessors five years ago.
Genesis The Lagos State controlled by the Action Congress (AC) and federal government led by the rival Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been at loggerhead for five years running. The bone of contention is the 37 LCDAs created by the former governor of Lagos State, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Thereby increasing the number of local government areas in the state from 20 to 57.

The federal government will have none of that. The then president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo directed the Lagos State government and other states that had created additional local government council to disband them. While other States complied with the presidential directive, Tinubu called the president’s bluff.
The former president did not take kindly to that. Pronto, he ordered the seizure of the federal allocation due to local government areas in the state. The former Lagos governor took his case to the Supreme Court.

The apex Court in its judgement ruled that the federal government has no right to seize the State’s local governments’ allocation or that of any tier of government in the country. Consequently, it ordered the federal government to release the funds to the State. However, it also pointed out that though the 1999 constitution empowers states to create additional councils, the creation of the controversial LCDAs by the Lagos state government was inchoate.

Apparently to be on the safe side of the law, the Lagos House of Assembly amended the law that established the new councils and designated the 37 new council areas Council Development Areas.
Grudgingly Obasanjo released a part of the withheld local government funds. Yar’Adua released the remaining part of the funds when he assumed office two years ago. With that gesture from the president not a few thought that the controversy has finally laid to rest. But those who believed soon discovered that they were wrong.

The new hostility
Yar’Adua by his ultimatum to Fashola re-opened an old wound. And since then there have been varied opinions as to the true intention of president Yar’Adua. While the President and his men would want all to believe that the interest of the federal government is the protection of the constitution, the Lagos State government and its sympathizers think otherwise. To them the federal government is persecuting the state because it is controlled by to a different political party.

The 2011 connection
But some political pundits say politics cannot be ruled out in the actions of the two gladiators. One of those who hold this view is Barrister Adebayo Lawanson. Lawanson is a chieftain of the All Progressive Grand Alliance in Lagos State. He told Daily Sun that there is a lot of politics in the issues he said from the legal point of view, section 8(3) of the 1999 constitution empowers a State to create additional local government areas through its House of Assembly. But that the new local government areas cannot become operational until they are ratified by the National Assembly as contained in section 8(5) of the same 1999 constitution.
Therefore, Lawanson said the Lagos State Government ought not have conducted elections into new LCDAs. He said even the Supreme Court in its judgment in the suit brought before it by the Lagos State government cleared every grey area about the controversial councils.

“The Supreme Court has actually laid down in its own decision. Justice Uwais in his ruling mentioned that the plaintiff (Lagos) has power to enact law no 5 of 2002 and that of 2004. But that the new local government areas so created cannot take effect until the National Assembly amends section 3 and 31 of the fourth schedule of the constitution. Whatever actions taken by the Lagos state government is incomplete.
What it therefore means is that the government cannot conduct election yet into the 37 LCDAs because the National Assembly has not formally ratified the consequential order.

It is a constitutional aberration for the state government to conduct elections into those LCDAs. For them to have conducted election is very wrong. It is against the constitution.
The LCDAs are not full-fledged local government councils. Whatever actions they do should be under the 20 local government areas. To me it is wrong,”Lawanson stated. The chairman, All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP), Chief Abiodun Oyebolu thinks so too.
He said, “It is absurd and very petty for both sides to have introduced politics of animosity and mischief. This issue would not have gone this far if both parties have taken into consideration the overall interest of people of Lagos state. What is there is simply negative politics.”

He said in as much as the Lagos State government we as right in creating the new councils, it was wrong for the government to have conducted elections into them when the councils have not be listed in the constitution. “Lagos state has done all it ought to have done. Everybody knows that it is the federal government that is using its majority at the National Assembly that have refused to list the local governments But two wrongs don’t make a right. Lagos approach runs foul of the law.”

Oyebolu said the position of his party is that the state deserves new local government councils. According to him even the controversial 57 councils is grossly insufficient for Lagos because of its population. However, he said his party believes that things must be done in accordance with the law of the country.
In his words “Lagos deserve even a lot much more than the controversial 57 local government. Lagos given all the perimeters with which local government areas are created deserves a minimum of 80 local government areas. And can conveniently with the population now accommodate 100 local government areas if truly you want development to get to the grassroots. That is the position of the ANPP.
The ANPP chieftain said the appropriate thing is for Lagos State government to have conducted elections into the 20 constitutionally recognized Local Government Areas and appoint officials for the LCDAs pending their ratification by the National Assembly.

By: NDUBUISI ORJI.