*Dissolves committees via SMS
The Ondo State House of Assembly has dissolved the caretaker committees heading the 18 local government areas of the state.
The committees were dissolved on Thursday via a text message.
The SMS directed all the caretaker committees to hand over to the directors of local government administration [DLA] in their respective councils.
18 interim management committee of the local governments and members stand dissolved today 13th of June 2019," the text message said.
This would be the third time within two years that Governor Rotimi Akeredolu would dissolve the interim committees.
On April 3, 2017, Mr. Akeredolu appointed and inaugurated 18 caretaker chairmen to head local councils in the state.
Akeredolu had, upon assumption of office, immediately dissolved the council bosses and councillors, on the premise that they were illegally elected into office under former Governor Olusegun Mimiko of the Peoples Democratic Party.
The governor's decision followed a judgment by the Akure High Court which dissolved all the local councils' leadership.
Also, on October 18, 2018, Akeredolu's government sacked the caretaker committees.
Akeredolu has been using "interim heads", who are party loyalists in the APC, to oversee the 18 councils in the state.
He has not authorized the Ondo State Independent Electoral Commission (ODIEC) to conduct elections in the local government areas.
The commission, headed by Prof. Yomi Dinakin, had in August 2018, announced that elections into the 18 councils would in December 2019.
Dinakin also reeled out the guidelines, stressing that the chairmanship aspirants were to pay a nomination fee of N50,000, while those seeking the office of councillors should pay a non-refundable nomination fee of N20,000.
Political pundits in the state are, however, accusing ODIEC of violating Section 30 of the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended) and Schedule 4 Paragraph 1 of Local Government, Establishment and Administration Law (Cap 87) Laws of Ondo State which empowers the body to conduct the election.