Group: Aiyedatiwa did not influence LCDAs’ cancellation judgment

The Independent Council of Foot Soldiers of the Lucky Aiyedatiwa Campaign Organisation has asserted that the recent nullification of the Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) in Ondo State was not influenced by Mr. Lucky Aiyedatiwa, the state governor.

As a reminder, the Ondo State High Court in Akure, the state capital, rendered a judgment last Thursday, declaring the 33 newly established Local Government Development Areas in the state as illegal and unlawful. The court ruling stated that these LCDAs were created by the late Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, the former governor of the state.

In a statement, Mr. Agboola Ajayi, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, criticized the court ruling, denouncing it as unfavorable to the people and claiming that it would impede the progress and growth of communities in Ondo.

“The judgment is anti-people. It will be promoting an agenda that will hinder rapid development of the communities. The Ondo State government is behing the suit. They must appeal the judgment. The suit filed by the PDP was not to totalling abrogate the LCDAs but illegal inauguration of Caretake Chairman,” he noted.

In response to Ajayi’s statement, the spokesperson for LACO-FSIC issued a statement on Monday, asserting that the government was not responsible for the court judgment. The spokesperson described Ajayi’s statement as reckless, defamatory, and an effort to discredit the Nigerian judiciary.

“While Agboola Ajayi has every right to express his opinion on a court verdict, he is not licensed to impugn on the integrity of the sitting judge and the judicial institution by claiming Governor Aiyedatiwa had influenced the judge to pass his judgment.

“We had waited for three days in the hope that Ajayi would deny the story or claim that he was quoted out of context, but alas, he regaled in silence, thus affirming that he said that the governor influenced the judge to pass a wrong judgment, which he considered the dissolution of the 133 LCDAs.

“Therefore, we are calling on the judiciary to take up Agboola Ajayi and put him on trial, to produce evidence of how Aiyedatiwa influenced the judge; otherwise, he should be sentenced accordingly,” the LACO-FSIC persuaded.