By Gbenga Ariyibi

Ado Ekiti—Ekiti State House of Assembly yesterday, approved the creation of 19 Local Government Development Areas, LGDAs in the state.

The approval was sequel to the adoption of the report of an Ad-hoc Committee earlier set up by the House to consider the bill seeking the creation of the new councils.

With the approval, the lawmakers  have increased the number of the councils presented to it by governor Kayode Fayemi last month by one, that is 19, instead of 18 LGDAs

Presenting the report, chairman of the ad-hoc Committee, Ayodeji Odu, representing Irepodun/Ifelodun Constituency 11, justified the increase based on a petition by the people Kajola/Oreniwa in Ikole local government area.

The lawmaker urged his colleagues  to ensure that all necessary documents relating to the new councils were compiled and forwarded to the National Assembly to enable the councils be listed in the constitution.
House Majority Leader, Churchill Adedipe, subsequently moved a motion for the approval of the report and the result of the referendum conducted by State Independent Electoral Commission, EKSIEC, last Saturday.
The lawmaker said the result of the referendum conducted was a clear indication that the people of the state were in full support of the exercise.

Both reports were unanimously approved by members of the House.

Adedipe equally  moved that the councils should be addressed as LGDAs pending the final approval by the National Assembly.

Reacting to the development, the Special Adviser on Legislative and Allied Matters to the State Governor, Chief Dapo Karounwi said the approval was the final lap of an exercise that started last year.

Meanwhile, the state government yesterday said there was no court order restraining EKSIEC, from conducting last Saturday’s referendum towards the creation of the LCDAs.

The government insisted that contrary to the statements credited to the Governor Elect, Mr. Ayodele Fayose that the referendum was held in contravention of a subsisting order of an Ado-Ekiti High Court, no such order existed as the purported judgment which ruled that the EKSIEC was not properly constituted had been set aside by the Court of Appeal, Ado-Ekiti in March.

Speaking through the Commissioner for Information and Civic Orientation, Mr. Tayo Ekundayo in a statement, the government explained that apart from quashing the judgment of the state High Court on the constitution of the EKSIEC, the Court of Appeal ruled that all parties involved in the matter to return to the status quo, which allowed the Chairman and members of EKSIEC to return to their duty posts to perform their statutory functions including the conduct of elections and plebiscites.

While restating the commitment of the Fayemi-Administration to the rule of law, he said the large turnout of people of the affected council areas for the referendum was a clear confirmation of the desire of the people to have new councils that would bring development nearer to them.