August 31, (THEWILL) – The highest Political Advisory Body of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State, the Governance Advisory Council (GAC), on Wednesday, at Lagos House, Marina, held a closed door meeting with the Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mr Mudashiru Obasa.
Though details of the meeting was not made public, but it was gathered that the meeting may not be unconnected with the current tension in the state over the rejection of 17 Commissioner-nominees sent by the governor to the Assembly for confirmation.
THEWILL recalls that the State Assembly, last Wednesday, confirmed 22 out of the 39 cabinet nominees sent by the governor for screening.
At the meeting were the State APC Chairman, Cornelius Ojelabi, Cardinal James Odunmbaku; former State APC Chairman, Otunba Henry Ajomale; former Deputy Governor, Mrs Sarah Sosan; former Deputy Governor, Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, Dr Abayomi Finnih, among others.
The meeting came on the heels of an announcement by the House that there were alleged plans by some people to attack Speaker Mudashiru Obasa and other lawmakers, over the recent screening and rejection of some cabinet nominees sent by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
The House, in a release issued by Media Assistant to Speaker, Obasa, Eromosele Ebhomele, on 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 planned sponsored protests and analysis by some civil society groups and activists.
It also said that it had refrained itself 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.”
The Speaker stressed that the House does not have any fight with Sanwo-Olu or the executive arm, 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 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.”
About the Author
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.
