Lagos Assembly Concludes Screening of Commissioner Nominees

By Segun James

The 16-man screening committee set up by the Lagos State House of Assembly to screen the commissioners and Special Advisers nominee sent to the House by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu yesterday concluded its duties even as the nominees were told that they will know their fate through the governor.

The committee which was headed by Mr. Rotimi Abiru, the Chief Whip of the House, took two days to complete its work following intensive interrogation of each nominee’s resume and what innovative idea such nominees would bring on board.

The committee screened six of the 13 nominees on Thursday and the remaining seven yesterday.

The nominees screened are Mr. Oladele Ajayi, Mr. Oluwatoyin Fayinka, Mrs. Yetunde Arobieke, Mr. Olanrewaju Sanusi, Mr. Kabiru Abdullahi and Mr. Joe Igbokwe.

Others are Mr. Bonu Solomon Saanu, Mrs. Lola Akande, Prince Anofi Elegushi, Mrs. Solape Hammond, Mr. Moruf Akinderu-Fatai, Mrs. Shulamite Adebolu and Mr. Tokunbo Wahab.

Speaking with the newsmen after the exercise, the Chairman, Mr. Abiru expressed satisfaction with the competence of the nominees, saying the state would be better with their wealth of experiences.

According to him, “this has been a very tough exercise; we have now taken the entire 38 nominees of the governor (25 in the first batch and 13 in the second batch). From what we have seen, we have knowledgeable and intelligent people that understand how the government will work to succeed.

“It is a mix. We have technocrats, politicians and people who believe that it does not matter the divide they belong to, that what is most important is the urge and zeal to deliver service.

“They have seen this as a call to service and have pledged before us that they will put all that God has endowed them to ensure that good governance is a witness with the present administration and that the people of Lagos will enjoy the dividends of democracy.”

Abiru said that the committee would present its report to the larger Assembly of 40 members before a final decision on their confirmation or otherwise would be taken.

He commended the committee members for asking the nominees intelligent questions, saying that none of the nominees was treated as a sacred cow in the best interest of the state.

Abiru said that only three nominees who were former lawmakers were allowed to “take a bow” without serious scrutiny.

He stated that the committee would work on its report over the weekend and forward same to the entire House as soon as it was ready.

“I want to assure Lagosians that Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu has a very good team, a team that will deliver dividends of democracy to the people of Lagos, I can assure that,” he added.

At the end of the screening exercise for nominees, Abiru told them that the House of Assembly would get back to them through the governor.