In what appears to be a power tussle between the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and some political and religious gladiators on the proposed members of the State Executive Council (SEC), the Lagos State House of Assembly, in an unprecedented move on Wednesday, declined to confirm 17 out of the 39 nominees submitted by the governor for the position of commissioners and Special Advisers in his cabinet.
Last month, Sanwo-Olu presented 39 cabinet nominees to the Assembly for screening and confirmation. There were 20 members of the immediate past SEC in the list and many thought that they would scale the hurdles. But only 10 out of them were confirmed. The Assembly also confirmed 12 out of 19 new names on the cabinet list.
The outcome of the screening exercise by the Assembly shocked and infuriated many Lagosians who saw the legislature’s action as political repression and recklessness in a state like Lagos, which has enjoyed political stability since the birth of the Fourth Republic. They are particularly irked by the dangerous political precedent being set, where about 40 per cent of nominees presented by a governor as his cabinet members would be rejected by the Assembly. The result of the exercise was a clear signal that there is a political war between Sanwo-Olu and the Assembly, led by Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa. Many residents, who are shocked by the development, believe that only the powers that be at the centre can resolve the issue.
The reason why many people were bothered about the outcome of the screening exercise was that the 22 nominees cleared by the Assembly were majorly politicians with strong political bases in the state, either as children of prominent politicians or former public office holders. Also, the manner in which Obasa conducted the plenary session where nominees were either approved or rejected leaves much to be desired.
A look at the names of nominees announced by Obasa during the plenary, after a special committee headed by Hon. Mojeed Fatai briefed the House on the outcome of the screening exercise, showed that those not confirmed were ‘technocrats’ who may not have strong political tie to godfathers or power brokers in the state.
Those not confirmed are the immediate past Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso as well as nine of his former colleagues – Folashade Adefisayo (Education); Olalere Odusote (Energy); Bolaji Dada (Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation); Akin Abayomi (Health); Sam Egube (Budget and Economic Planning); former Special Advisers to the Governor, Engr Aramide Adeyoye (Works and Infrastructure); Solape Hammond (SDG and Innovation); Rotimi Fashola (Agriculture); and Mosopefoluwa George (Public-Private Partnership).
Also not confirmed were Mr. Yomi Oluyomi, Mrs. Folashade Ambrose, Ms. Barakat Bakare, Mr. Olalekan Fatodu, Mr. Seun Osiyemi, Mr. Rotimi Ogunwuyi and Dr. Olumide Oluyinka.
Those confirmed by the Assembly to return to the cabinet are former Commissioners for Agriculture, Abisola Olusanya; and his counterpart in Housing, Moruf Fatai. Others are former Special Advisers to the Governor, Tokunbo Wahab (Education), Tunbosun Alake (Innovation and Technology), Gbenga Oyerinde (Central Business District), Toke Benson-Awoyinka (Housing), Bolaji Roberts (Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs), Abiola Olowu (Commerce and Industry) Afolabi Ayantayo (Parastatals Monitoring Office) and Mobolaji Ogunlende (Special Duties and Intergovernmental Relations).
New nominees cleared are former state Solicitor-General, Lawal Pedro; former member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Dayo Alebiosu-Bush (SAN); General Manager of Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency, Dr. Dolapo Fasawe; former member of state Assembly, Hon. Ibrahim Layode; immediate past Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Health and daughter of a Governance Advisory Council (GAC) member, Dr. Oreoluwa Finnih-Awokoya; and ex-Organising Secretary (Youth) of state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Idris Aregbe.
Bola Olumegbon, Adekunle Olayinka, Jide Babatunde, Jamiu Alli-Balogun, Rotimi Ogunwuyi and Olakunle Rotimi Akodu were also confirmed.
Many factors are believed to have contributed to the decision of the Assembly, among which are the lawmakers’ political war with Sanwo-Olu, religious sentiments, political differences among power brokers, contributions of the nominees to APC performance in the last general elections, the inability of some of the past cabinet members to relate with their superiors, politicians and civil servants, and giving prominence to technocrats ahead of politicians.
Some political watchers have argued that the alleged sour relationship between Sanwo-Olu and Obasa might have started over the contest for the speakership of the 10th Assembly. They maintain that it would be a major reason why over 40 per cent of the nominees were not confirmed by the Assembly. They argued that Obasa is displaying open animosity towards the governor for his role in the emergence of Hon. Abiodun Tobun in the race for the speakership, allegedly to replace Obasa. They said Sanwo-Olu’s decision didn’t go down well with Obasa and some returning and new lawmakers, who wanted the Speaker to return.
Party leaders eventually waded into the matter and Obasa was re-elected for a third term. On his part, Obasa has tactfully punished Tobun by excluding him from the list of principal officers of the Assembly despite the fact that he is one of the ranking lawmakers in the Assembly.
Some political analysts are of the view that the Assembly’s decision not to confirm 17 nominees, who seem to be the governor’s star performers especially in the first term, was a revenge attack.
Religious difference is another reason why some of the nominees were not confirmed. Sixteen out of the 17 nominees not confirmed are Christians, which painted a picture of a result of the outcry by the Muslim community that there were more Christians than Muslims among the nominees. The list has 23 Christians and 12 Muslims.
There was an outcry by the Muslim community shortly after Sanwo-Olu released the list of the nominees last month and Islamic leaders in the state organised a press conference a few days ago to reject the list on account of poor representation of Muslims. They also embarked on a protest to the Assembly to express their grievances on the cabinet list.
Assembly members also used political weapons to deny some nominees the opportunity of serving in Sanwo-Olu’s cabinet. The 17 people disqualified are technocrats. Some of them played crucial roles in governance by the virtues of their office during the first term of the Sanwo-Olu administration. The lawmakers might have clearly exhibited their disdain for technocrats in political offices based on the rejection of the 17 nominees. These people were also not approved by the political gladiators in different local government councils and caucuses. They are simply political orphans, especially those who served and worked closely with Sanwo-Olu during his first term to achieve a great deal of development for the state in line with the THEMES developmental agenda.
There is no doubt that politicians should be given an avenue to occupy public office having worked tirelessly to contribute to their party’s success during general elections, but what many people are concerned about is: should politics be placed above competence? The circumstances surrounding the Assembly’s refusal to confirm over 40 per cent of nominees, because they are technocrats and not politicians or those that are not tied to the apron of a political leader, is a concern for many Lagosians, who see the actions of the lawmakers as a setback to the continuity of the giant strides recorded by some of the former cabinet members.
It is clear that many of the technocrats that are not confirmed, especially the immediate past members of the SEC were some of the key players during the first term of the Sanwo-Olu administration. Some of the technocrats, who served as either Commissioners or Special Advisers, contributed immensely to the success of the administration which earned the ruling APC victory during the governorship election for the party to retain the state after losing the presidential poll and some National Assembly seats in the previous election.
Many Lagosians turned their back against the APC during the last presidential and National Assembly elections, which made the party’s presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, lose his home state for the first time in the last three general elections. Based on the performance of Sanwo-Olu’s administration in key sectors such as education, infrastructure, transportation, agriculture, health and foreign direct investments, which can be attributed to the technocrats at the helms of affairs, Sanwo-Olu, the APC governorship candidate, was re-elected. He defeated his opponents by wide margins. During the gubernatorial poll, APC won 19 out of the 20 local government areas in the state as against 11 councils won during the presidential poll.
Therefore, it is of great concern to many Lagosians that the technocrats who used their wealth of experience, knowledge and competence to contribute to the success of Sanwo-Olu’s six-pillar THEMES developmental agenda were pushed aside by politicians for selfish reasons.
Abayomi, the immediate past Commissioner for Health, is a professor who specialises in internal medicine, hematology, environmental health, biosecurity and biobanking. He was at the forefront during the COVID-19 pandemic and did remarkably well to curb the spread of the deadly virus. As the Deputy Incident Commander, he worked closely with the Incident Commander, Sanwo-Olu to protect the lives of millions of Nigerians, as Lagos was the epicentre. The state public health has also witnessed great transformation courtesy of Abayomi’s contribution. Many Lagosians wonder why such a brilliant professor and seasoned health practitioner would be denied confirmation because he is a technocrat without a political root.
Omotoso, another nominee not confirmed by the Assembly, is one of the best media managers Nigeria has produced in the last two decades. He remains the longest-serving newspaper editor in Nigeria with laudable track records at The Guardian, The Comet and The Nation newspapers, where he resigned as an Editor after his appointment as Commissioner. Omotoso is one of the think tank and closest commissioners to Sanwo-Olu and, without any iota of doubt, he managed the information arm of the government very well during his tenure in office. Therefore, why should Omotoso, a versatile media manager, who is a role model to serving and upcoming journalists be made a sacrificial lamb on the altar of politics?
It is worrisome that Adeyoye was not confirmed. Many people wondered why a brilliant engineer, an Amazon and trail brazer, who worked for over 30 years with the foremost construction company in Nigeria – Julius Berger Nigeria PLC and rose to the position of a Project Co-ordinator/Management Staff in the company’s region west division of operation before joining the state government in 2019 as the first female Special Adviser, Works and Infrastructure – be denied the opportunity to return to the state cabinet just because she is not in the good books of some political leaders in the state. Should competence be sacrificed for politics in the case of Adeyoye, who was the main driver of some of the completed and ongoing laudable roads, bridges and other infrastructural projects embarked upon by Sanwo-Olu in different parts, including the Fourth Mainland Bridge, which is scheduled for flag off before the end of the year?
Lagos today is the investor’s choice and destination for business. In the last four years, the state has attracted foreign direct business worth billions of dollars. Lagos, according to data provided by the Central Bank of Nigeria, attracted 67.82 per cent ($3.61 billion) of the total investments in Nigeria in 2022. The success of the Sanwo-Olu administration in attracting foreign investment is teamwork but three of the nominees that the Assembly failed to confirm played crucial roles in attracting investors to the state. They Egube, Hammond and George. The three of them used their expertise, knowledge and skills to contribute positively to the economy of the state. So, why should some politicians gang up to stop these three investment gurus from continuing in office and use their contacts to attract more foreign direct investments to the Centre of Excellence to boost its economy?
Adefisayo is an educationist of high repute, who has used her wealth of experience to improve the education sector, especially primary and secondary education in the state. Why should Adefisayo be thrown out by the Assembly despite her contribution to the successes recorded by the APC administration in the education sector in the last four years? Odusote is the brain behind the state Electricity Market plan of the Sanwo-Olu’s administration, which seeks to provide a cheaper and cleaner alternative to inadequate grid power and speed up industrialisation across the state. He worked tirelessly to bring about the blueprint that birthed energy bill signed by the former President Muhammadu Buhari. Why should such a man who set Lagos template for other states to follow be denied the opportunity to complete what he started? If performance was the yardstick, there is no way many of the nominees dropped will be rejected.
As Lagosians watch with keen interest what will be the outcome of the battle of supremacy among political gladiators in the state and the political drama between the executive and legislature over the cabinet list, there are many questions begging for answers. Should professionalism and competence be jettisoned for politics? Why are politicians bent on ensuring that the majority of the cabinet members should be politicians and not technocrats? Is the decision of the lawmakers not an affront to Sanwo-Olu? Is the Assembly fighting a proxy war? Does the refusal of the Assembly not to confirm 17 nominees have anything to do with the battle for political structure ahead of the 2027 elections? What will be Sanwo-Olu’s next step? Will any of the 17 nominees not confirmed be renominated by the governor and confirmed by the Assembly? Will the circumstances surrounding the confirmation of the nominees not create a crack within APC at local government and state levels? Will GAC, the apex leadership body in Lagos APC resolve the issue?
Only time will tell.
