The House of Representatives has taken a major step toward upgrading 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) in Lagos State into full-fledged Local Government Areas (LGAs). The bill, which passed its second reading on Wednesday, aims to increase the number of LGAs in Nigeria from 774 to 811.
The proposed legislation, sponsored by lawmakers James Faleke, Babajimi Benson, Enitan Badru, and 19 others, seeks to amend the 1999 Constitution to officially recognize these LCDAs as LGAs.
The bill is titled, “A Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) to Accommodate the Thirty-Seven (37) Development Area Councils of Lagos State as Full-Fledged Local Government Areas, Increasing the Total Number of Local Government Areas in the Federation to Eight Hundred and Eleven (811), and for Related Matters (HB. 1498).”
If the bill becomes law, Lagos will have the highest number of LGAs in Nigeria, surpassing Kano, which has 44, and Katsina, which has 34. Supporters of the bill argue that upgrading the LCDAs will bring governance closer to the people, allowing for better service delivery and development in Lagos.
The 37 LCDAs in question were originally created in 2003 when President Bola Tinubu was the governor of Lagos State. However, they were not officially recognized as LGAs due to constitutional limitations. Now, lawmakers believe the time has come to correct this and formally integrate them into the nation’s administrative structure.
Meanwhile, the Lagos State House of Assembly has also been considering a separate bill that could redefine the status of the 37 LCDAs. This raises questions about how both legislative efforts will align in the future.
