In perhaps an unprecedented development since 1999, the Lagos State House of Assembly deviated from its usual path of approving all commissioner candidates put forward by the executive arm of government.
On July 25, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu he submitted 39 names to the legislature for selection and clearance for appointment to his cabinet.
Days later, the legislature disqualified 17 of the 39 nominees, including six who served as commissioners in the governor’s first term. Former commissioners are Gbenga Omotoso (Information and Strategy), Akin Abayomi (Health) and Sam Egube (Economic Planning and Budget).
Others are Cecilia Dada (Women’s Affairs and Poverty Alleviation), Olalere Odusote (Energy Resources) and Folashade Adefisayo (Education).
Confirmation was done by voice voting as the speaker, Mudashiru Obasa, read out the name of each nominee.
The fact generated divergent opinions in the public space, and many interpreted that the governor and the spokesman were in disagreement.
In the aftermath of the events, Sanwo-Olu was said to have supported another candidate against Obasa in the race for the post of president.
But some party loyalists said the main reason some technocratic candidates were rejected was because they were not known in their constituencies and had no electoral value.
Micheal Uju, a public affairs analyst, said the disqualification was political.
“Unfortunately, there’s a sense that most of those rejected by the House are technocrats who aren’t as interested in partisan politics,” he said.
“People like Professor Akin Abayomi, we saw his role during the COVID-19 pandemic as then Lagos health commissioner.
“Look at Mrs. Folashade Adefisayo, don’t you know that woman’s efforts to transform Lagos public schools into something parents are now proud of?
“The same is the case with the former SA (special adviser) to the governor on works, the engineer Aramide Adeyoye, who spent no less than 15 years in a leading construction company worldwide.”
concerns
After the governor presented the list to the House of Assembly, many groups, including lawmakers, raised concerns, particularly about not being represented.
State House lawmakers attacked the list, saying its councils and party loyalists who contributed to the APC’s success were excluded.
Criticism following the listing was further heightened when a group of Islamic clerics and scholars described the composition of the nominees “as a continuation of the governor’s long-standing bias against Muslims in the state.”
They said the list exhibited a “callous insensitivity to diversity, equity and justice.” But the governor denied the accusation.
The list is said to contain 31 Christians and eight Muslims.
The Epetedo Indigenous Association also described the cabinet proposed by Sanwo-Olu as a “disappointing” composition “that does not meet the expectations of the electorate.
The group, in a statement signed Monday by its chairman, Maroof-deen Oshodi, and other executive members, said they did not deserve to be sidelined after shielding the governor from “electoral defeat.”
This is not the first time that some commissioner candidates have been rejected.
During Babatunde Fashola’s second term, some legislators expressed strong opposition to some of the candidates. But eventually they were all acquitted.
Consensus
Mojeed Fatai, the House’s top whip who headed the 12-member committee that selected the nominees, insisted that the decision to disqualify some of them was not taken by him but by lawmakers.
The essence of the committee is to evaluate and not “confirm or disqualify anyone,” Fatai said in an interview with TVC.
Furthermore, he declined to comment on the actual reason why some nominees were disqualified, just like Mr. Obasa.
In an attempt to clear the air on the matter, the Speaker of the House said lawmakers would not be forced to reveal what they discovered during the screening.
ALSO READ: Lagos President Obasa Speaks Out on Gov. Sanwo-Olus’s Commissioner Candidates Rejection
Mr. Obasa, during the plenary session, specifically spoke about the rejection of two of the former commissioners: Mr. Abayomi and Mr. Omotoso. He said both former commissioners fell short in some respects.
Although he said lawmakers would not back down from their decision unless there was a “compelling and compelling reason”, Sanwo-Olu spokesman Gboyega Akosile expressed optimism that the matter would be resolved.
“I think the governor will meet with the legislators and of course there will be a meeting ground for the two parties. And I am sure that, at the end of the day, things will turn out to be positive for the people of Lagos State,” Akosile said in a previous interview.
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