The House of Representatives is considering upgrading the 37 local council development areas (LCDAs) in Lagos state to full-fledged local government areas (LGAs).
The bill, sponsored by James Faleke, Babajimi Benson, Enitan Badru, and 19 other lawmakers, passed the second reading at the green chamber on Wednesday.
If enacted, the constitutional amendment bill would increase the number of LGAs in Lagos from 20 to 57.
The proposed legislation is anchored on the need to align Lagos’ administrative structure with its growing population.
Its sponsors said granting full LGA status to the LCDAs would bring governance closer to the people.
The 37 LCDAs were created by President Bola Tinubu in 2003 when he was governor of Lagos state.
However, the LCDAs are not recognised because the 1999 Constitution only acknowledges the 20 existing LGAs in the state.
In 2004, then-President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration withheld Lagos’ LGA allocations, arguing that the creation of LCDAs was unconstitutional.
Lagos challenged Obasanjo’s decision in court. The supreme court held that while the state can create LCDAs, they would remain administrative units until the National Assembly amends the constitution to grant them the status of LGAs.
In recent months, there have been moves by the Lagos House of Assembly to replace the 37 LCDAs in the state with newly designated administrative areas.
The move followed the judgment of the Supreme Court that granted financial autonomy to Nigeria’s 774 LGAs.
The court ruled that only democratically elected councils can access federal funds.
