LAGOS, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- The recent court ruling against Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) in Ondo state has sparked controversy, with the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) gubernatorial candidate, Agboola Ajayi, blaming Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa for the outcome.
Ajayi, a former deputy governor, accused Aiyedatiwa of failing to provide viable leadership, allowing the issue to escalate to the courts.
Ajayi clarified his earlier statement, absolving the judiciary of blame and emphasizing that the court merely adjudicated on a presented case.
He argued that a responsive leadership would have resolved the LCDA creation issues administratively, without resorting to the courts.
“I am putting the whole blame regarding this LCDA issue on Gov Lucky Ayedatiwa.
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“He has no excuse whatsoever to allow the case to get to the court because, whichever way we want to look at it, when he assumed office as acting governor and later a substantive Governor, he automatically becomes the custodian of both the assets and liabilities of the government.
“In other words, whatever it was that may have caused issues regarding the LCDA creation should have been administratively handled by him without a recourse to the court. I want to sincerely believe that those who took the matter to court, would have written one or two petitions to government, stating thier grievances, but proceeded to court when the leadership failed them,” he said.
Saying he understands local government administration as the closest to the people, he said there are tendencies, “we know all that but we can’t throw the baby away with the bath water,” he noted.
Mr. Ajayi emphasized that the government’s inability to fulfill its leadership role in the state, specifically regarding LCDA creation, is the root cause of the current issues and the governor must be held accountable for the resulting consequences.
“Lucky Ayedatiwa was an acting governor at the time the issue started , he should have resolved the issues before it went to court. I don’t blame the court for it’s judgement but Aiyedatiwa for not tackling the issue from the beginning,” he said.
Ajayi who lamented the sour condition of the state under the present leadership noted that if I he was the governor, he would put up a better arrangement that would make the people happy than what they are currently experiencing.
“Governance is more than blowing siren up and down without having the gut for proper governance of the state,” he added.