Our Reporter
Out of the 39 cabinet nominees of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, the state’s House of Assembly confirmed only 22, rejecting 17.
At plenary on Wednesday, Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, said the confirmation followed screening of the nominees by an ad-hoc committee.
The confirmation was done through a voice vote by the lawmakers as Obasa mentioned the name of each of the nominees.
“We will continue to do our job, we will continue to do our oversight function,” said Obasa.
Nominees who were confirmed include: Layode Ibrahim, Mr. Mobolaji Ogunlende, Dr. Dolapo Fasawe, Bola Olumegbon, Mr. Idris Aregbe, Ms. Abisola Ruth Olusanya, Mr. Moruf Akinderu Fatai, Mr. Kayode Bolaji-Roberts, Engr. Abiola Olowu, Mrs. Toke Benson-Awoyinka, Dr. Oreoluwa Finnih- Awokoya, Mr. Yakub Adedayo Alebiosu, Mr. Lawal Pedro SAN, Mr. Tunbosun Alake, Mr. Gbenga Oyerinde, Dr. Adekunle Olayinka, Dr. Jide Babatunde, Mr. Afolabi Ayantayo, Mr. Tokunbo Wahab, Mr. Olakunle Rotimi-Akodu, Mr. Jamiu Alli-Balogun, Mr. Abdulkabir Ogungbo.
Those who were rejected include former Commissioner of Health, Prof Akin Abayomi; his counterparts Mr. Gbenga Omotoso (former Commissioner of Information and Strategy); Engr Olalere Odusote (former Commissioner of Energy and Mineral Resources), Mr. Sam Egube (former Commissioner of Economic Planning and Budget), among others.
The House had through a 12-man ad-hoc committee chaired by the Chief Whip, Fatai Mojeed, screened the 39 cabinet nominees from August 13 to August 16.
It was reported that Sanwo-Olu had on July 28, transmitted 39 cabinet nominees to the House for screening and confirmation.
But since the list was submitted to the state Assembly, there have been criticisms coming from different quarters.
At a plenary early this month, some of the lawmakers had lamented the exclusion of some parts of the state in the nomination.
In a ‘Matter of Urgent Public Importance’ Aro Moshood Abiodun (Ikorodu 2) had told his colleagues that despite contributing to the success of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the last election, Ikorodu got one slot in the list.
A breakdown of the nomination list shows that Eti-Osa LGA has 12 nominees, while Lagos Mainland has 3.
Badagry, Surulere, Lagos Island, and Epe LGAs have 2 nominees each, while the rest of the LGAs have 1 nominee each.
Also, Muslim groups under the aegis of Joint Muslims Forum (JMF), had on August 8, rejected the proposed cabinet nominees list.
JMF, a coalition of over 30 Muslim groups, expressed dissatisfaction with the list, noting that out of the 39 cabinet nominees, only 8 are Muslims with the rest as Christians.
This came about a week after a Muslim rights advocacy group, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), had condemned the cabinet nominees list.
MURIC described it as illegal, adding that it failed to be fair to the Muslim population in the state.
