Acting Governor of Ondo StateLucky Aiyedatiwa, has ordered state local government elected officials to vacate their positions.
The directive comes as the officials’ terms of office expired on Wednesday.
“The constitutional term of the elected local government chairpersons and councilors in Ondo State ends today, August 30, 2023,” a statement from the acting governor’s spokesman, Kenneth Odusola-Stevenson, said Wednesday.
“This implies that all the Presidents and Councilors would leave their respective positions accordingly and hand over the administration of Local Governments.
“In accordance with the above and in order not to allow a vacuum, the Acting Governor of Ondo State, Hon Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa, has directed the Heads of Administration of Local Governments in the eighteen (18) Local Governments throughout the State to take over the administration of local governments immediately, pending further directives from the state government.”
The statement urged outgoing officials to deliver “properly, please.”
The acting governor thanked the officials for their services to the people of Ondo State and wished them well in their future endeavors.
It has become the practice of governors to allow the terms of presidents and councilors to expire without holding council elections.
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The practice has always disrupted the democratic process at the third level of state government.
The violation allows governors to appoint interim committees for local governments until elections are held.
In Ondo State, local government elections are scheduled for February 2024, seven months after the expiration of the officials’ terms of office.
Initially it was scheduled for December of this year, but it had to be changed.
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Let hear it in the comment below if you do have an opinion on this; Six months to the municipal elections, the governor of Ondo orders the presidents and councilors of LG to leave