By Kunle Awosiyan
After he has escaped the plot to stop his re-election as the speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. MudashiruObasa set a new and brave tone to check and balance the workings of the state governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
With the confirmation of 22 and rejection of 17 commissioner and special adviser nominees of the governor by the assembly, Obasa did not only draw a battle line, the experienced lawmaker shocked the executive arm and many political allies of the governor.
Prior to the election and inauguration of the 10th assembly, there was a plot believed to have been sponsored by the state governor to stop Obasa from becoming the speaker again.
One of the longest serving lawmakers, Hon. Abiodun Tobunfrom Epe declared interest for the speaker seat. He was seen as Sanwo-Olu’s candidate and
of a few members of the state Governance Advisory Council.
Obasa outsmarted them all as he won his re-election but with the note that his dealings with the Sanwo-Olu led-executive would not be a business as usual.
Last week Wednesday, Mudashiru drew the first blood as the assembly confirmed 22 nominees and rejected 17 of the Sanwo-Olu’s nominees.
(Former Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Folashade Adefisayo)
A source at the assembly told Echonews that the rejection of the 17 nominees had nothing to do with the hidden hostility between the governor and speaker but a pure submission to the will of the people.
The source said that the lawmakers had to listen to the agitations of various stakeholders who thought that the governor’s list was not fair enough to many political elite who worked tirelessly to ensure his re-election.
There were series of protests by different groups after Sanwo-Olu released the list of nominees a few weeks ago. The agitators include the Muslim body, the Ikorodu division and leaders in some local government and local council development areas whose candidates were not included.
Apart from this set of agitators, there are Lagos indigenes who thought that they have been relegated and that some commissioners under Sanwo-Olu are not from the state and should be removed to open space for the aborigines.
(Former Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning Sam Egube)
Some of these agitators carried placards to the assembly ahead of the screening, calling on the lawmakers to remove some names and replace with theirs.
The Ikorodu division requested that four names be removed and replaced with their sons and daughters while the Muslim community requested for 50-50 sharing formula of the appointment of the commissioners and special advisers by the governor.
It is only the Christian Association of Nigeria that was pleased with the list.
While the agitation was tensed, the state governor, Sanwo-Olupromised to add new names but the outright rejection of 17 of the initial list means that the governor may have to do something urgently beyond, including reshuffling of the list.
As it is, 80 per cent of the rejected nominees are Christians and non-Lagos indigenes. In other words, 15 of the 22 are Christians.
The rejected list also shows that many of the nominees are technocrats who worked with Sanwo-Olu during the first term but do not have any political base or godfathers.
They are either friends of the governor or his former colleagues in his days in the private sector. The lawmakers deliberately screened out this set of nominees for two reasons; one, that some of them failed to appear at the numerous campaign grounds during electioneering.
(Former Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso)
A good example is the former Commissioner of Health, Professor Akin Abayomi whom according to investigation travelled out of the country during before the election.
Another reason is that some of them did not prepare for the screening as they thought it would be “take a bow” formula but was surprised by the type of questions the committee was throwing at them. A few of them performed woefully and a very good example is the former Special Adviser to the governor for works, Engr.Aramide Adeyoye.
The lawmakers also look at the number of the nominees who are not Lagos indigenes. They include Mr. Sam Egube who was the former Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning. Egube is from Ughelli in Delta State, which according to the lawmakers should not return to the Lagos state Executive Council.
Solape Hammond was a special adviser to Sanwo-Olu for Sustainable Development Goal. She is the daughter of the former governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Agagu.
Mrs. Folasade Adefisayo was the former Commissioner for Education. She was rejected, according to findings because she is not from Lagos and that she married to and Ile-Ife chief in Osun State.
The former Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso is also from Osun State and should not return for second term. The screening committee proposed a Lagos indigene to replace him.
Seun Osiyemi is a Director at Proctor House Company Limited and he is from Ogun State, according to investigation.
Six of the rejected 22 worked with Sanwo-Olu in his first term of which five of them are not Lagos indigenes.
For Miss Barak Bakare, who is a London trained lawyer, it was gathered that the screening committee rejected her because she works at Dele Farotimi chambers as a solicitor.
Farotimi is a popular critic of the All Progressives Congress and a close ally of the Labour Party presidential candidate in the last presidential election, Mr. Peter Obi.
However, most of the 22 nominees that were confirmed have strong political base. For instance, Dr. Dolapo Fasawe, Bola Olumegbon, Abiola Ruth-Olusanya, Tunbosun Alake, Lawal Pedro, Oreoluwa Finnih-Awokoya, Tokunbo Wahab, all have political base and godfathers.