Lagos State House of Assembly Speaker Mudashiru Obasa has stated that the House rejected 17 of the 39 commissioners-nominees proposed by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu in order to preserve the interests of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
He stated that the House was still an autonomous entity with constitutional authority. “And we have fulfilled this responsibility by approving some and rejecting others. We have reasons for saying no,” he explained.
The Speaker, who presided over yesterday’s plenary, reaffirmed that no threat of violence or intimidation could persuade the House to change its mind about the 17 rejected nominees.
He also denied any feud between him and Governor Sanwo-Olu.
“We are still brothers, and there is no rancor whatsoever, but pure performance of constitutional roles assigned to the legislature,” he stated. “We’ve known one another for a long time. When he was elected governor, I was appointed speaker. We’ve been collaborating for the past four years. So I’m curious why, if we refuse the governor’s request, it becomes an issue, and the so-called ‘enlightened’ infer that we’re battling the governor. The House passed numerous resolutions that the Executive did not carry out. Nobody noticed, and nobody said anything about it.”
The Speaker further chastised the rejected applicants for attempting to “reap where they did not sow.” He stated that they would not have received posts if there was no party or if the party had lost the election.
He added: “We must get this right that we have our own constitutional responsibility, and we have exercised this by clearing some and denying some. We have our own reasons for saying no, which I believe people are not privy to.
“They say we are placing politics ahead of technocrats! What technocrat? What do you mean by a technocrat, who is not a technocrat in this hallowed chamber?
“We must understand that political party is about a group of people who aspire to gain power. We gained the power since 1999 and we have to sustain it. We must protect our party. We’ve had technocrats in the past and this will come and go, but we will remain.
“So, I am trying to protect my party and I will continue to do that, but we will not sacrifice service to our people in the name of technocrats, no. We are politicians, and if not for us, the technocrats won’t be appointed. It is because of our success that they got appointments and, to our own estimation if they have not done well. I think we have the right to say no, and we have said no.
“If anybody is interested in knowing why we have taken such decisions, they should approach the House. The House has also restrained itself from exposing what it discovered during the screening, and we would not be forced to spill.
“We will not be threatened or intimidated, the civil society organizations can as well protest, it is their constitutional right, but we won’t be intimidated, we have said no and it remains so.
“If there is any reason to reverse our decision, if there is a germane and convincing reason, I think we will, but not by threat.”
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