Lagos Assembly Denies Rift With Sanwo-Olu Over Rejection Of 17 Nominees

The Lagos State House of Assembly has denied existence of any rift between it and the executive arm of government following recent rejection of some Commissioner Nominees sent to the House by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for screening.

The statement of the House followed plans by some civil society groups and activists to stage protests and threats to the state’s House of Assembly over the outcome of the screening exercise.

According to a statement issued by the media office of the speaker, the action concerning the nominees was in tandem with the constitution, which stipulates its responsibilities.

“The House 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.

“Before today, I had been reliably informed of the plan to attack the Speaker based on the decision of the House concerning the nominees of the Governor, particularly the rejected ones,” Dr. Obasa said during plenary adding that he had been inundated with calls from people and members of the House,” the statement said.

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.

“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.

Concerning the rejection of Prof. Akin Ababyomi, former Health commissioner, Obasa said considerations went beyond his efforts in the fight against COVID-19 which he described as an isolated issue in the challenged health sector of the state.