A bill for an Act to alter the 1999 Constitution, as amended, to upgrade the 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) of Lagos State to full-fledged local government areas passed second reading in the House of Representatives.
The bill, sponsored by James Faleke, Babajimi Benson, Enitan Badru, and 19 other lawmakers, if passed, would increase the total number of local government areas in Lagos State to 57 and the total number of local government areas in Nigeria to 811.
Proponents of the bill, which passed second reading yesterday, said granting full local government status to the LCDAs would bring governance closer to the people.
The 37 LCDAs were created by the current president, Bola Tinubu in 2003, when he was the governor of Lagos State.
There had been moves by the Lagos State House of Assembly to replace the 37 LCDAs in the state with newly designated administrative areas.
This bill, apart from being passed by the Nigerian House of Reps and the Senate, it must also be passed by two-thirds of the 36 States Houses of Assembly before it can become an Act.