September 03, (THEWILL) – The open disagreement between the Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu and members of the State House of Assembly came as a huge surprise to many Nigerians, especially residents of Lagos. It was the first time that such a thing had happened in the state since the inception of the Fourth Republic.
Lagos is virtually a one-party state, so to say. At present, the composition of the House of Assembly is heavily titled in favour of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC). About 38 out of the 40 legislators in the House belong to APC. While the rest are members of the Labour Party (LP), none is from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The last time the PDP had active representation in the House was 2015, with more than seven legislators.
Despite the overwhelming dominance of the APC in the House and indeed, in Lagos State as a whole, it appears that Sanwo-Olu and the legislators are hell bent on washing their dirty linens in the public. What could be the problem? What makes the House of Assembly, hitherto seen as a rubber stamp, to boldly reject 17 out of the 39 names in the list of cabinet members submitted by Governor Sanwo-Olu for screening?
Those are the questions that the people of the state have been asking since the decision of the House was made public.
THEWILL recalls that there were complaints after the list of nominees from Governor Sanwo-Olu was read on the floor of the House.
Governor Sanwo-Olu sent 39 names to the legislature for screening and clearance for appointment into his cabinet on July 25, 2023.
Hardly had the names been read out that many members of the House raised eyebrows and complained that the list did not meet their expectations and those of their constituencies.
Raising a ‘Matter of Urgent Public Importance’, the lawmaker representing Ikorodu II Constituency, Aro Abiodun, told the House that despite contributing to the success of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the last election, Ikorodu got one slot in the list.
The Deputy Majority Leader of the House, Hon. Ademola Kasunmu and Hon. Nureni Akinsanya from Mushin, said the list did not come with the local government areas of the nominees.
They argued that if Samwo-olu desired technocrats, there were many of them in the APC and they should have been picked from the party.
Hon. Kehinde Joseph (Alimosho II), said that loyalists and party members deserved to be nominated as much as technocrats.
The Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa was said to have prevailed on the House to allow the names go for screening as he maintained that the governor had the prerogative to make appointments into his cabinet.
A few days later, the legislature disqualified 17 of the 39 nominees, including six of them who served as commissioners in the first term of the governor.
Six former commissioners were among the rejected nominees. They are Cecilia Dada (Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation), Olalere Odusote (Energy Resources), Folashade Adefisayo (Education), Akin Abayomi (Health), Sam Egube (Economic Planning and Budget) and Gbenga Omotosho (Information and Strategy),
The confirmation was done through a voice vote as the Speaker of the House read out the names of the nominees.
Interestingly the highest political advisory body of the APC in Lagos State, the Governance Advisory Council (GAC), on Wednesday at the Lagos House, Marina held a closed-door meeting with Governor Sanwo-Olu and the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa.
Although the details of the meeting were not made public, it was gathered that it may not be unconnected with the current tension in the state triggered by the rejection of 17 Commissioner – nominees sent by the governor to the Assembly for confirmation .
Sources at the meeting informed THEWILL that it was agreed that the House may have a second look at some of the rejected nominees when the governor represents their names.
At the meeting were the Chairman of the APC in Lagos, Cornelius Ojelabi, Cardinal James Odunmbaku; a former State Chairman of the party, Otunba Henry Ajomale; former Deputy Governor, Mrs Sarah Sosan; former Deputy Governor, Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire and Dr Abayomi Finnih, among others.
The meeting came on the heels of an announcement by the House that some people planned to attack Obasa and other lawmakers over the screening and rejection of some cabinet nominees sent by Sanwo-Olu.
The House, in a release issued by the Media Assistant to Obasa, Eromosele Ebhomele, last Monday said its action concerning the nominees was in tandem with the Constitution, which stipulates its responsibilities and, as such, would not succumb to threats and intimidations, including sponsored protests and analysis by some civil society groups and activists.
It also said that it had refrained from revealing all that it discovered during the screening of the nominees, while warning that “those who live in glass houses should be conscious not to throw stones.”
Why Assembly Rejected 17 Nominees
The House and its screening committee had maintained sealed lips as to why the 17 nominees were rejected.
However, THEWILL gathered that the relationship between the House and Governor Sanwo-Olu had not always been cordial.
Sources said the relationship deteriorated further when Sanwo-Olu allegedly supported another candidate against Obasa during the race for the seat of speaker.
Obasa, who is currently serving his third term, having been on the saddle since 2015, enjoyed tremendous support and loyalty from the members of the House.
The Speaker said that the House was not fighting Sanwo-Olu or the executive arm of government, as projected by some people who may not be aware of the actual reasons for the rejection of the nominees.
“There is this erroneous belief that we are waging war against the Governor. There is no basis for me and the House to fight the Governor. I will continue to say that the Governor is a brother and colleague in the Lagos project and service to the people of our State.
“The Governor and I have been around in the system for a long. While he was SA to the former Deputy Governor, Femi Pedro, I was in this House as Chairman, Committee on Rural Development. He was SA on Establishment and Pensions and I was chairman, House Committee on Public Accounts (Local Governments). While he was heading LSDPC, I was chairman, Committee on Economic Planning and Budget. Then, I became the Speaker and when he became the Governor, I remained the Speaker. So it’s been a long journey together.
“But I wonder why anytime the House says no to a particular request of the governor, it is taken by some people to mean there is a fight with the governor. This House has passed so many resolutions that the executive arm refused to carry out, but people don’t see that as something to talk about and the House does not raise eyebrows. So I don’t know what brings the erroneous belief that the House is fighting the Governor, who is our brother and who we will continue to work with”.
Despite his denial many still believe that the relationship between the House and the governor is far from cordial.
Another reason being given for the rejection of the 17 nominees is the lack of consultation by the governor in picking the nominees.
Many of the legislators who spoke with THEWILL in confidence maintained that Governor Sanwo-Olu just unilaterally picked the nominees and failed to consult the political leaders at the grassroots.
They also claimed that he dumped some names on the House and most of the legislators claimed that the political leaders told them that they had no input in the people nominated by the Governor.
It was gathered that the governor’s failure to consult with the grassroots leaders made the list to be disjointed with some local governments not having representatives in the cabinet.
The House also felt that some of the technocrats in Sanwo-Olu’s cabinet during his first term in office failed to relate with their constituents and members of the governing party in the local areas didn’t feel their impact. They were said to have no political value during the elections.
Leaders of the party, through the House of Assembly, are demanding that the governor should appoint technocrats who are active members of the APC and not from outside the party.
This was confirmed by Obasa in a statement issued on his behalf last Monday.
The statement read, “Concerning the rejection of Prof. Akin Abayomi, former Health Commissioner, Obasa said considerations went beyond his efforts in the fight against COVID-19 which he described as an isolated issue in the challenged health sector of the State.
“Before Prof. Abayomi, there were Leke Pitan, Dr. Jide Idris and others. COVID-19 was an isolated case that was considered. Before COVID-19, we had Ebola which was also taken care of under Babatunde Fashola.
“Beyond all these, we are the representatives of the people, their mouth pieces, eyes and ears. The health sector of Lagos is not just about COVID-19. We have General Hospitals and other Health Care Centres around the State. What can be said about them?
“Before Engineer Aramide Adeyoye, we also had Engineer Ganiyu Johnson and Dr. Obafemi Hamzat as Commissioner for Works and under whom the Ikoyi-Victoria Island link bridge was built while Babatunde Fashola was Governor. Under Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as Governor, there was massive infrastructural development too.
“So we must stop making allusions concerning something we do not understand. They mentioned the former Commissioner for Information, Gbenga Omotosho and his experience. But how about actions in office?” Obasa asked.
Religion was also a factor that accounted for the legislators’ action.
THEWILL recalls that Muslims, under the umbrella of the Lagos Muslim Community, had staged a protest over what they described as alleged marginalisation of the Muslims in the list of commissioner-nominees.
During the protest, the President of the Muslim Community of Lagos State, Prof. Tajudeen Gbadamosi, led other prominent Muslim leaders, including the Convener, Joint Muslim Forum (JMF) Sheikh AbdurRahman Ahmad and MURIC Director, Prof. Ishaq Akintola to complain of marginalisation of Muslims in the appointment.
Way Forward
The entre for Convention on Democratic Integrity (CCDI), a non-governmental organisation with the consultative status of the United Nations, has urged Sanwo-Olu to dialogue with the leadership of the Lagos State House of Assembly on the debacle of the screening of the 17 commissioner-designates who were rejected due to lack of adequate consultations by Governor Sanwo-Olu with the necessary stakeholders in the state, before submitting the list of the nominees to the House of Assembly.
The President of CCDI, Mr. Olufemi Aduwo, called on the governor for immediate dialogue with the leadership of the House in the interest of peace and peaceful co-existence in the state.
Obasa has also provided a solution to the logjam when he said the House might reconsider some of the rejected nominees.
He said that as politicians whose party is in power, the priority of those in government should be the interest of the people but urged those planning to sponsor actions against the House to realise that protests and sponsored articles would not make the House to rescind its decision.
“The civil society that is threatening to protest should do so because it is a constitutional right. But we are not going to be threatened or intimidated. We have said no, but if there is a convincing or germane reason for us to reverse our decision, we will, but not by threats.
“It is because we are successful as politicians that is why the technocrats are being appointed. And to our own estimation, if they have not done well, we have the right to say no and we have said no.
“We don’t want instigations and conflicts, the executive and the House are working together; we are brothers and colleagues; we will continue to work together but we need to caution fourth columnists not to instigate crisis. And those that are living in glass houses need to be careful,” he warned.
The Chief Press Secretary to Governor Sanwo-Olu, Gboyega Akosile is reported to have expressed optimism that the matter will be resolved.
He said the report on the screening has not been sent to the Governor, saying once the governor received the report of the screening , he will meet with the legislators and of course there will be a meeting ground for the two parties.
AYO ESAN, has been actively reporting and analyzing political events for different newspapers for over 18 years. He has also successfully covered national and state elections in Nigeria since the inception of this democracy in 1999.
