The screening of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s 25 nominees for commissioners and special advisers was completed on Saturday, by the Lagos state House of Assembly ad-hoc committee set up for the exercise.
The 16-man committee chaired by the Chief Whip of the House, Hon. Rotimi Abiru was constituted on Monday last week at plenary and the screening started on Thursday.
Other members of the screening committee are: Hons. Jimi Mohammed (Ikeja I), Yinka Ogundimu (Agege II), Hon. Abiodun Tobun (Epe I), Hon. Victor Akande (Ojo I) and Hon. Mosunmola Sangodara (Surulere II), Mojisola Alli-Macaulay (Amuwo-Odofin I), Rasheed Makinde (Ifako-Ijaiye II), Lanre Afinni (Lagos Island II), Noheem Adams (Eti-Osa II), and Adedamola Kasunmu (Ikeja II), Suraju Tijani (Ojo II), Olusola Sokunle (Oshodi/Isolo I), Olumuyiwa Jimoh (Apapa II) and Abdulsobur Olawale (Mushin II) and Tunde Braimoh (Kosofe ll.
The committee was given one week to report back to the House, which means by tomorrow, Monday, it must conclude its work and report back to the House.
On Thursday the committee screened eight of the nominees, prominent among them were the immediate past Secretary to Lagos State Government, SSG, Mr. Tunji Bello, Editor of The Nation newspaper, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso and Miss. Toke Benson-Awoyinka.
The second day, Friday, the committee screened 10 of the nominees while the remaining seven took their turn on Saturday.
Apart from Mr. Wale Ahmed who was asked to take a bow and go as a former member of the Lagos Assembly and current secretary of the All Progressive Congress, APC, in Lagos, others were subjected to questions and answers from the members of the committee.
However, on Friday, the first nominee that took her turn, Mrs. Abolaji Dada, former Executive Secretary, Apapa Local Government complained of not been able to get her West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) result.
Dada who claimed to have sat for her WAEC exam in 1984, asserted that no certificate was issued in the stated year.
“I had my WAEC exam in a government school so I felt it would not be difficult to access it, but I eventually made effort to retrieve my certificate when the need arose but was told that my school’s data was not captured. My claim can be verified,1984 WAEC certificate for my school was not accessible,”:she said
She said that if she is assigned to the ministry of education she would work at “restoring civic education in the Primary School curriculum so as to make the pupils patriotic,well behaved and well mannered individuals in the society.”
Dada said she would ensure that the educationally disadvantaged girls go to school, and also take area boys off the street if she was made the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.
“We will let them know that there is dignity in labour rather than making them go about doing nothing,” she said, while throwing her weight behind local government autonomy.
Another nominee on Friday, Mr. Moyosore Jubril Onigbanjo (SAN), former Chairman of Ibile Oil and Gas, said he was passionate about the progress of Lagos State on development and foreign investments.
Onigbanjo stressed that the state needed to stop judges from using long hands to write, and that there were some laws in Lagos State that have not been reviewed since the 60s and “we need to check this”.
He then promised to reform the judicial system if assigned to justice ministry and appealled to the government to improve infrastructure in the courts and decongest the prisons.
Other nominees who were screened on Friday are: Mr Lere Odusote, Mr Moyo Onigbanjo, Mrs Uzamat Akinbile-Yusuf and Mr Segun Dawodu, Mrs Folashade Adefisayo, Mrs Ponnle Ajibola, Dr Rabiu Olowo, Mr Olatunbosun Alake and Mr Samuel Egube.
On Saturday the committee screened the last batch of nominees made up of seven people.
The are: Dr. Idris Salako, Dr. Frederic Oladeinde, Mr. Gbolahan Lawal, Mr. Aramide Adeyoye, Ms. Ruth Olusanya, Mr Afolabi Ayantayo, and Mr Femi George
One of the nominees screened yesterday, Mr. Afolabi Ayanatayo answering questions cautioned on local government autonomy, saying local governments could misuse the autonomy if they are given, especially in the area of controlling their own funds.
“It is better if we could continue with JAAC. Our own is different from that of the United States of America because they generate their own funds. I am not in support of fiscal autonomy for local governments. We should monitor them to perform better. They should be monitored by both the executive and the legislature, he said.
Speaking with House correspondents at the end of the exercise, chairman of the committee, Abiru said he was satisfied with the performance of the nominees saying they are all knowledgeable people but that the committee will report back to the House that will confirm the nominees or otherwise.
He expressed satisfaction with the competence of the nominees in the way they all responded to questions from members of the committee.
