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Details Of Their Meeting With G.A.C
Any moment from now, Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu is expected to represent his list of nominees, for Commissioners to the House of Assembly, who initially rejected 17 of the 39 cabinet nominees forwarded to it by the Lagos Governor for screening and confirmation.
That is one of the agreements reached at the recent meeting between the Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC) and other APC chieftains who waded into the feud between Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Lagos State Speaker and the House of Assembly.
Recall that, the State Assembly had on 23rd August, 2023 rejected some of the nominees. The rejection led to a lot of controversies, as to the possible reasons. Many attributed the Assembly’s decision to the perceived fight between the Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa and Gov. Sanwo-Olu.
City People gathered that the high point was when Obasa did not get Sanwo-Olu’s support a few months back, to enable him return as Speaker, and the Governor was said to have supported another lawmaker, Hon. Abiodun Tobun.
Tension heightened a few days ago, during the sitting of the House, when Obasa said the lawmakers would not succumb to any intimidation by anybody, over its action in rejecting Sanwo-Olu’s nominees. Last Monday, Obasa revealed that there were plans by some people to attack him and some lawmakers over the rejection of nominees. He said what the House did was in tandem with the Constitution, which stipulates its responsibilities and as such would not succumb to threats and intimidation.
To find an amicable solution to the issue, last Wednesday members of the GAC and top APC chieftains in Lagos met with Sanwo-Olu and Obasa at the State House, Marina.
Those who attended the meeting were largely GAC members such as Cardinal Odunmbaku, Otunba Henry Ajomale, former Deputy Governor, Princess Adejoke Orelope – Adefulire and Dr. Abayomi Finnih.
The Lagos APC Chairman, Cornelius Ojelabi also attended.
Both parties were said to have tabled their grievances. The Speaker explained why the 17 nominees were dropped. The Governor also made a case for his nominees.
Obasa was said to have explained that the House has had to strained itself from revealing all that it discovered during the screening of the nominees, while warning that those who live in glass houses should not throw stones.
But the big question everyone keeps asking is whether indeed there is no love lost between the Governor & the Speaker.
Are they really fighting? City People asked the Chief Press Secretary to the Lagos Governor, Gboyega Akosile this question last Thursday, and he told City People matter of factly that there is no truth in the claim and that the Governor and the Speaker enjoy a very cordial relationship.
“The Governor & the Speaker are not fighting. All you are seeing is Politics. This is Politics & Democracy. A lot of engagements are needed when you are in Politics. You have to reach out to everybody, especially the stakeholders. You can’t rule anything out. You can’t rule out anybody in Politics, because this is Democracy, this is Politics. Nobody is inferior to anybody in Politics. To a very great extent, I can tell you that Mr. Governor and Mr. Speaker are very close. They are close friends, close partners and brothers. There is actually nothing negative between them.”
“What you see out there playing out is not as serious as some people make it look. It is not anything serious or bad. The 2 of them are very good together, because why would there be any issue between them. They are fighting for the common people in Lagos State. They are working for the interest of Lagosians. So, if Mr. Governor says these are the people I want to use, and the House of Assembly says because of 1, 2, 3 reasons, remove some of these people, what is wrong in that. It is not a fight. It is just work. There is what you call checks and balances in Democracy. There is the Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary. It is all about negotiations.”
“What has happened should even give Lagosians that confidence about the affairs of Lagos State, that we live in a state where the finest of democratic cultures reign supreme, where the House of Assembly, can checkmate the Executive, where the Executive, can also perform its duties and functions without any fear or favour. I think we are living in very good times.”
During the week, the Speaker, Obasa also explained that he is not fighting the Governor. He said that the House does not have any fight with Gov. 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.
According to Obasa, “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 Government).
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, its been a long journey together”.
“I wonder why anytime the House says no to a particular request of the Governor, it is usually taken by some people to mean that 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 some thing to talk about and the House does 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”.
“However we have a constitutional responsibility. Just as the Governor has the responsibility to inform the House about his nominees, the House has the responsibility to say Yes or No, which we have exercised by confirming some and denying some and we have our reasons for saying No to some of the nominees”.
“The House, as a body, has refrained itself from exposing what it discovered during the screening exercise and we are not going to be forced to spill to the public”, Obasa explained.
Concerning the rejection of Prof. Akin Abayomi, the former Health Commissioner, Obasa said considerations went beyond his efforts in the fight against COVID-19, which Obasa described as an isolated issue in the challenged health sector of the state”.
“Before Prof. Abayomi, there were Commissioners like Dr. Leke Pitan, Dr. Jide Idris and others.
COVID-19 was just an isolated case that was considered. Before COVID-19, we had Ebola which was also taken care of by Babatunde Fashola.
“Beyond all these we are the representatives of the people, their mouthpieces, eyes and ears. The health sector of Lagos is not just about COVID-19, we have General Hospitals and other healthcare centres around the states. 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-Lekki 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 his actions in office”. Obasa asked.
The Speaker added that as a politician whose party is in power, the priority of those in government should be the interest of the people.
He urged those planning to sponsor actions aginst the House to realise that protests and sponsored articles would not make the House rescind its decision”.
“The civil society that is threatening to protests 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 in our 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 Hosue are working together. We are brothers and colleagues. We will continue to work together but we need to caution the fifth columnists not to instigate crisis. And those who are living in glass houses need to be careful”, he warned.
Some people have attributed the fight between Gov. Sanwo-Olu and Speaker Obasa to what happened during the Lagos Assembly Speakership race. The insinuation then was that Sanwo-Olu did not support Obasa’s return. He was said to have supported Hon. Mustain Abiodun Tobun who represents Epe State Constituency 1.
But the issue was settled with the decision of the Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC) to settle for the incumbent, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Ajayi Obasa to continue in office.
GAC the highest decision making body in Lagos met on Saturday, 3rd June, 2023 to nip the brewing crisis in the bud. And it was decided for stability that Obasa should continue in office.
We gathered that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu gave the GAC members the mandate to meet, deliberate and take final decision on the lingering speakership crisis in the State House of Assembly.
The issue has thrown up the role of the GAC in the smooth running of the state. The Governors Advisory Council, known as GAC is the highest decision-making body in Lagos.
GAC comprises elders of the party which provide direction for the party’s leadership, in addition to solving knotty issues about the party. This set of men and women ensure that the Constitution is strictly followed in the running of the affairs of the party where they usually deliberate on matters of importance and use dialogue and wisdom to resolve issues.
It was this council that first gave Governor Sanwoolu a nod for a second term.
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