Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, has stated that the creation 19 of new Local Council development Areas (LCDAs is not a political trap contrary to insinuations from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that it is an attempt to destabilise the incoming administration of Ayo Fayose.
Fayemi stated this in Ado-Ekiti on Wednesday while signing into law the Bill for the Creation of Local Government Areas (2014) following its passage by the State House of Assembly.
The State House of Assembly had ratified the outcome of the referendum conducted by the State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC), where the people of the state expressed their support for the creation of the new councils.
Governor Fayemi, at the signing ceremony witnessed by members of the state Assembly and state executive council, asserted that the creation of the new councils was not only a fulfilment of the yearnings of the people but also an exercise in accordance to the Constitution.
He said that the demand for new councils has always topped the list of requests by many communities during his annual Town Hall and Village Square meetings in Ekiti communities in 2011, 2012 and 2013.
Fayemi said: “This is a promise fulfilled following the yearnings of Ekiti people, yearnings that predated the commencement of our time in office on October 2010. We will all recall that the first executive governor of this State had attempted to create new local government areas before the end of his tenure in office.
“That was not to be. But our people never stopped requesting for additional local governments in order to bring development closer to them.
“This is not a political trap for anyone, I must say that. This is without prejudice to whatever transition arrangements that are being put in place because these are minimum irreducible demands of Ekiti people.
“What we have done is simply fulfil the yearnings of our people, and we hope that succeeding administrations in the state will build on this effort.”
According to the Governor, the new LCDAs will come into immediate effect in all the areas affected “following necessary assets sharing and the necessary implementation of administrative responsibility.”
