Lawyer Urges Appeal Court To Nullify 37 Ogun LCDAs
A legal practitioner, Oluwaseun Lawal, has petitioned the Court of Appeal in Ibadan to invalidate the creation of 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) by the Ogun State government.
Lawal is challenging the constitutionality of the Ogun State Local Government Law 2016, which authorized the establishment of these LCDAs. He contends that the state government lacks the authority to unilaterally create local councils without involving the National Assembly.
Furthermore, Lawal questioned the financial viability of these newly created LCDAs, expressing doubts about the state government’s ability to fund them.
In 2020, Lawal initially contested the creation of the 37 LCDAs in the Ogun State High Court in Abeokuta. However, Justice A.A. Akinyemi dismissed the case (marked CA/IB/292/2020) for lacking merit. In his May 20, 2020, ruling, Justice Akinyemi stated, “I find and hold that the Local Government Creation and Transitional Provisions Amendment Law of Ogun State 2016 is neither unconstitutional nor null and void. To the contrary, I hold that it is valid and constitutional.”
Dissatisfied with this outcome, Lawal has now appealed to the Court of Appeal, Ibadan Division, seeking to overturn Justice Akinyemi’s verdict. In his notice of appeal (marked AB/559/19), Lawal argues that the lower court misapplied the law and miscarried justice.
“The trial judge was wrong and in grave error in resolving this issue in favor of the respondents,” Lawal asserted. “The law remains that the 37 newly created Local Government Areas cannot operate until the National Assembly amends Section 3(6) and Part 1 of the First Schedule to the 1999 Constitution.”
The respondents in the appeal are the Governor of Ogun State, the Ogun State Government, the Attorney General of Ogun State, the Ogun State House of Assembly, and the Ogun State Independent Electoral Commission.
Lawal seeks a court declaration that the provisions of the Local Government Law, 2016 of Ogun State must align with the 1999 Constitution. He also argues that the state government cannot constitutionally fund the 37 newly created Local Government Areas as “Local Council Development Areas” without an Act of the National Assembly amending Section 3(6) and Part 1 of the First Schedule to the 1999 Constitution.
