BY TAYO ADERINOLA
A bill seeking to upgrade Lagos Stateโs 37 Development Area Councils to full-fledged local government areas has been approved by the House of Representatives. Once enacted, the total number of LGAs in the state will increase from 20 to 57.
The bill was passed on Wednesday as one of the 42 constitutional amendment bills and was sponsored by Rt Hon. James Abiodun Faleke, Hon. Babajimi Benson, and Hon. Enitan Dolapo Badru, alongside 19 other lawmakers.
The proposed legislation is titled โA 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)โ.
During Wednesdayโs plenary session, presided over by Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu, the bill successfully scaled second reading. If enacted into law, Nigeriaโs total number of local governments will increase from 774 to 811.
This will also result in Lagos officially having the highest number of local governments in Nigeria, exceeding Kano and Katsina states, which currently have 44 and 34 LGAs, respectively.
