12th April, 2017
Gbenro Adesina/Ibadan
The Oyo State Government has issued letters of appointment to the 54 Caretaker Chairmen of the Local Government Areas and Local Council Development Areas sworn-in by Governor Abiola Ajimobi last Friday.
The Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Mr. Bimbo Kolade presented the appointment letters to the 27 caretaker chairmen of local governments and 27 local council development areas (LCDAs) at a public presentation held at the House of Chiefs, Secretariat, Ibadan.
Mr. Kolade, who was in company of top government officials, stated that the executive arm was acting in consonance with the deliberations of the State House of Assembly, warning that any individual not given appointment letter should not parade himself as a caretaker chairman.
It would be recalled that the Oyo State Government created 35 LCDAs from the existing 33 local government areas in the state. The state now has 33 LGAs and 35 LCDAs.
Kolade noted that five LGAs and six LCDAs did not have any nomination due to the ongoing litigation in relation to council delineation and proposed conduct of council polls in the state.
According to him: “We want to put it on record that we have acted in accordance with the clearance we got from the House of Assembly. The Executive arm sent 57 names to the state House of Assembly for clearance. It consists of 28 names as Caretaker Chairmen for 28 local government areas and another 29 names for 29 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) recently created by the state. We have given caretaker chairmen of 27 LGAs and 27 LCDAs appointment letters.
He added, “The Caretaker chairmen of Lagelu West LCDA, Asabari LCDA and Irepo LG were not given letters. Also, the four councils in Oyo, namely Oyo West, Oyo East, Atiba and Afijio, as well as Oriire LG in Ogbomoso zone were exempted as no nominee was presented due to the ongoing litigation in relation to council delineation and proposed conduct of council polls. The same thing applied to the six newly created LCDAs in Oyo zone and Oriire Local government of the state”.
The Commissioner charged the new caretaker chairmen to see to the development of their councils and communities, noting that no chairman is superior to the other.