Sanwo-olu may add more names to Lagos Cabinet List
By Rasaq Abolaji
There were indications that Lagos State Governor Olusola Sanwo-olu may send more names of commissioner-nominees to the Lagos State House of Assembly in response to the reactions of various groups to the cabinet list.
Echonews learnt that the governor’s think tank is putting heads together on how to prevent the agitations from heating up the polity.
Since the list of nominees to be in the second cabinet of the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu was released to the public, there has been brouhaha in various local governments whose leaders believe were not well represented in the list.
On Friday, July 28, the governor sent the list of his proposed cabinet members to the Lagosn State House of Assembly for ratification.
In the list, 30 percent of the commissioner-nominees are women, while others are youths, technocrats, and politicians.
Some members of the governor’s cabinet during his first term in office made the list, while several others were dropped.
Among the former cabinet members who made the list are former Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso; his Budget and Economic Planning counterpart, Mr. Sam Egube; ex-Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi; ex-Special Adviser to the Governor on Works and Infrastructure, Aramide Adeyooye; and his Education counterpart, Tokunbo Wahab.
However, the list was not accepted by some lawmakers, local governments, and religious bodies who claimed that they were not given a fair share in the government.
There has been agitation that the list be reversed and that the governor should make sure there is an even distribution of nominees in his cabinet.
As reported, the list first hit the rock at the House of Assembly as the Members of the House of Assembly expressed their dissatisfaction over the commissioner nominees sent to them for ratification, claiming that there was no even distribution in the list.
The lawmakers, who spoke during plenary said the list did not reflect their expectations and those of their constituencies.
The Clerk of the Assembly, Mr. Olalekan Onafeko, who read the letter of the governor accompanying the list of nominees, read out the names of the 39 nominees as sent by the governor to the House.
Reacting to the governor’s letter, the lawmakers lamented the exclusion of some local governments and constituencies from the list.
While some urged the governor to take another look at the list, others urged that the nominees’ local government areas should be attached to the list.
Raising a ‘Matter of Urgent Public Importance’, the lawmaker representing Ikorodu II constituency,Hon. Aro Abiodun, told his colleagues that despite contributing to the success of the All Progressives Congress in the last election, Ikorodu got one slot in the list.
The Deputy Majority Leader of the House, Ademola Kasunmu, lamented the absence of any nominee from Ikeja.
His colleague, Nureni Akinsanya from Mushin, noted that the list did not come with the local government areas of the nominees. He also pointed out that the APC had technocrats who were not considered for the nomination.
His position was supported by Kehinde Joseph (Alimosho II), who noted that loyalists and party members deserved to be nominated as much as technocrats.h
Joesph added that those who sacrificed their ambitions for the party or lost during the last election could also be nominated as commissioners and special advisers as they could still serve the people in other capacities.
Reacting to the matter, Femi Saheed said, as a former secretary of the APC in Lagos, he was aware that the party had technocrats who could be nominated.
“The House must thoroughly look at the nominees to make sure they are worthy of the nomination,” Saheed added.
While the Deputy Chief Whip, David Setonji, lamented that Badagry was not represented in the nomination, Ladi Ajomale observed that the list was heavily one-sided in terms of religious consideration.
Setonji added, “It seems like we have not learned our lesson. In one of the wards in my constituency, it was hard (during the election), but in the end, we proved ourselves, and here is the list, and not a single name from my LGA (was included).”
Adewale Temitope in his submission noted that Ifako Ijaye LGA which, according to him, delivered in the last election to the success of the governorship did not get a nomination in the list.
However, the Speaker of the House, Mudashiru Obasa, implored his colleagues to see reasons with then governor over his choice of individuals in the list.
Following the criticism of the nominees and in response to the directives issued by the House of Assembly, the Governor unveiled the local government areas of the nominees for the contentious Commissioner positions.
In a letter dated August 7 and addressed to the Clerk of the House, which was obtained by ECHONEWS, the Governor’s office presented the revised list of nominees and their respective local government areas.
However, the new list has still generated controversy as it revealed that an overwhelming 12 out of the total 39 commissioner designates hail from Eti-Osa Local Government alone.
Some local government areas have two nominees while others do have only one each.
The decision to disclose the nominees’ local government areas was initiated by the Speaker, who emphasised the importance of transparency and public awareness by mandating that the nominees’ local government affiliations be included in the list for the benefit of the state and its citizens.
Subsequently, the Clerk was tasked with formally requesting the local government area details from the Governor’s office.
Many stakeholders were still not at peace with the list, calling for it’s rejection.
For instance, the Joint Muslim Forum frowned at the list, claiming that Muslims are not well represented in the list.
According to the Forum,h there is no equity and fairness in the choice of the governor’s cabinet members.
In a statement jointly signed by the member organisations of the Forum, the Muslims called for equity in the list.
The Forum comprises some Islamic organisations such as Ansar-Ud-Deen Society of Nigeria, Adangba Central Mosque, Nawair-Ud-Deen Society of Nigeria, Rahmatuj Islamiyyah Society of Nigeria, Conference of Islamic Organisation (CIO), Association of Muslim Professionals,j Omitoro Central Mosque, Ikorodu, Lagos Mainland Muslim Community, Dawah Front of Nigeria, The Criterion (Al-furqan), Zumratul Muhmineenh Society of Nigeria, NACOMYO, BAT Ambassadors, MPAC, MICA, The Companion, Muslim Students Society of Nigeria (MSSN) Lagos, The Muslimsh Congress, MUSWEN, and MURIC.
The statement titled ‘Governor Babajide Unjust List of Commissuoners-Designate’ read: “In line with the dictates of our Islamic faith which consistently emphasizes fairness even in relating withb non-Muslims, Muslims in Lagos State at the last gubernatorial election defied all odds and resisted all temptations to massively vote Governor Babajide Sanwo- Olu and to also protect their votes.
“This was at a time a significant number of Governor Sanwo-Olu’s brothers and sisters in faith were vehemently campaigning, even in churches, against his second term bid and de-marketing his party.
“Alhamdulillah, Allah answered our prayers and also blessed our efforts
“We noted, to our utter dismay, that Governor Sanwo-Olu’s list exhibits callous insensitivity to equity, fairness, and diversity, Muslims make up less than 20% of the list, even though they constitute over 60% of not just the state’s population but her voting public. We noted that out of 39 nominees, only 8 are Muslims.
“We see this as a paradoxical reprisal from Governor Sanwo-Olu, against Muslims, on the Muslim-Muslim ticket fielded at the national level by his party. How Lagos should now be a guinea pig is to us an ill-thought affront by Governor Sanwo-Olu to the peaceful and accommodating Muslimn Community of the State. Why must Muslims in Lagos State always be denied their constitutional rights under Sanwo-Olu?
“. All these are in clear violation of Section 14(4) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which stipulates that:
“The composition of the Government of the Federation, a State, a local government council, or any of the agencies of such Government or council, and the conduct of the affairs of the Government or council or such agencies shall be carried out in such manner as to recognize the diversity of the people within its area of authority and the need to promote a sense of belonging and loyalty. among all the people of the Federation!!
“For the umpteenth time, the entire leadership of the Muslim Community of Lagos State representing various Muslim organizations, unequivocally and unanimously reject the list of commissioners- designated by Governor Sanwo-Olu.
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Meanwhile, the House established a screening committee, led by Chief Whip Fatai Mojeed, which was responsible for vetting the nominees and reporting back to the Assembly.
However, it was gathered that the new list with the local government areas of the nominees has affected the planned screening exercise, making the committee postpone the exercise till August 15, 2023.
