I Will Create More Local Government Before I Step Down..Kayode Fayemi

OUTGOING Ekiti State governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, has said his government will create more local government areas in the state before it officially leaves office on October 16.

Dr Fayemi stated this in Ado-Ekiti, on Tuesday, while receiving a report of the committee for the creation of additional local government areas in the state.

He, however, did not disclose the number of councils recommended by the committee.

“Some said the timing for the setting up of committee was mere political gimmick, but we knew that we wanted it genuinely. So, we appreciate the good work the committee has done, by traversing the length and breadth of Ekiti to meet the  people.

 “One thing is critical in the criteria to be considered and that is the fact that the communities must have agreed on the choice of the location of the council headquarters. Now, whatever we do won’t create tension and division among our people,” he said.

The governor added that his government would comply with the law by constituting a committee on the report that would be subjected to referendum by State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC) and eventual ratification at the state House of Assembly.

“I want to believe that the committee has done a thorough job. This noble intention of our government is to bring governance nearer to the people. It is devoid of partisanship and subjectivity,” he said.

Earlier, Justice Akin Ajakaye had said the committee received 72 memoranda from interested communities, adding that claims presented by the towns were “thoroughly verified” to arrive at the choice of recommended councils.

He said internally-generated revenue, accessibility, historical antecedents, land mass, homogeneity, consensus on headquarters and natural resources and population, were part of the criteria considered in arriving at the recommendation.

The seven-man committee was set-up on January 15.

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