Legal practitioner Vincent Adodo, Esq., LL.M, FIMC, CMC, has cautioned the National Assembly against endorsing the listing of 33 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) recently proposed by the Governor of Ondo State, Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa, during the ongoing constitutional amendment process.
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In a strongly worded statement issued on Tuesday, Adodo urged lawmakersparticularly the South West delegation led by Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu—to exercise utmost caution and avoid overstepping constitutional boundaries under the guise of amending the 1999 Constitution.
At the centre of the controversy is a request made by Governor Aiyedatiwa during the South West Zonal Public Hearing held in Akure on July 18, 2025, calling for the formal recognition of the 33 LCDAs created by the late Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN, CON.
Adodo, however, pointed out that these LCDAs were declared “illegal, null, and void” by an Ondo State High Court in a judgment delivered on June 20, 2024, for violating Section 8(3) of the Constitution. The suit, filed by Akoko Development Initiative and others, had challenged the lopsided and marginalising allocation of the LCDAs.
While the State Government has since filed an appeal, Adodo noted that no substantive steps have been taken to prosecute it no Appellant’s Brief has been filed over a year after the appeal was entered. This prompted judgment creditors to seek its dismissal for want of diligent prosecution.
“As it stands today, there are no LCDAs in Ondo State,” Adodo stated. “There is no valid appeal nor any order of stay against the judgment nullifying them. The Governor’s continued allocation of public funds and appointments into these defunct entities cannot legally revive them.”
He emphasized that any move by the National Assembly to recognize the LCDAs would not only be premature but would amount to a “usurpation of judicial powers,” warning that the legislature cannot amend the Constitution to validate an illegality still under judicial contestation.
“The National Assembly is a creation of the Constitution and cannot assume powers it does not possess,” he said. “To do so would be to undermine the rule of law and the principle of separation of powers.”
Adodo called on the lawmakers to resist political pressure and allow the judicial process to run its full course before considering any constitutional recognition of the controversial LCDAs.
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