Lagos State House of Assembly has summoned the Commissioner for Establishments, Training and Pensions, Mr Ajibola Ponle; Head of Service, Mr Muri Okunola; and Accountant General Mr Shefiu Muritala over the appointment of board members.
The lawmakers ex- pressed dissatisfaction over the failure of the executive arm to appoint members of boards and agencies without the approval of the legislative body as stipulated by the constitution.
Moving the motion under matters of urgent public importance, Deputy Majority Leader Noheem Adams called the attention of the House to alleged flagrant abuse of the separation of powers by the executive arm over failure to have recourse to the House before appointments of members of board and agencies.
Adams said: “I rise this afternoon calling the attention of the House to Government appointees to boards, agencies, and councils in the State who were given appointments without the approval of the House.”
He explained that the Nigerian Constitution in Section 196(2) stipulates that remunerations of advisers and other appointees of the state governor are subjected to the approval of the State House of Assembly. Adams further noted that Section 176(3) stipulates that nobody shall occupy the office of the Accountant General in an acting capacity for more than six months.
The House Committee on Legislative Compliance Chairman asked why the Accountant General has been in office since September 2022 in an acting capacity in disregard to the pro-visions of the constitution. Speaker Mudashiru Obasa agreed with the sub-missions of other members, saying that failure to appear before the House for approval negates the principle of separation of powers.
