A former state legislator from Ikorodu and immediate past member of the State Assembly Commission, Mr. Sunmi Odesanya has accused the incumbent Majority Leader of the House, Hon. S.O.B Agunbiade and the legislator presenting Ikorodu Constituency II, Hon. Nurudeen Solaja of gross neglect and responsibility for Ikorodu Division losing its member of the Assembly Commission this year.
Mr. Odesanya who served Ikorodu as state legislator in between 2003 and 2017 before his appointment in 2012 as Commissioner I at the Lagos State House of Assembly Service Commission for five years lamented how through the negligence especially of the Majority Leader of the house, four of the five commissioner appointed under the IBILE Forum were returned for a second term of five years in May 2018 while the fifth slot for Ikorodu was filled by an Agege man.
According to Mr. Odesanya, Hon. S.O.B Agunbiade is one of the principal officers by law who screen and renounced those to be appointed into this commission especially not only as the Majority Leader but also the chairman, House Committee on Business Rules, who is responsible for the screening and selection of such commissioner.
He question how Agunbiade and Solaja as legislators allowed Ikorodu’s slot to slip by and usurped by someone from another constituency as the House Speaker.
He quoted the relevant law on this matter saying that under section 2sub section (3) the speaker of the House upon all consultation with the principal officers of the house, prepare and sends to the governor a proposed list of five persons of which the governor shall appoint the chairman and members of the commission.”
Also section 2 of the Lagos State House of Assembly Service Commission Law 2010 States that composition of the Commission shall comprise of the chairman and four other members who shall be presented to the Governor who is a persons of unquestionable integrity.
Each of the members shall represent each of the five division in the state which are Ikorodu, Badagry, Ikeja, Lagos and Epe (IBILE).
Mr. Odesanya also blasted the speaker of the Assembly saying that he had approached him when he noticed that Ikorodu’s slot was hijacked and that he also complained to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu who in his presence phoned the House Speaker to redress this wrong but that the Speaker told Asiwaju Tinubu that this year composition was based on the five senatorial district which Odesanya described as illegal and unconstitutional since it breached the IBILE arrangement.
The former lawmaker also said he approached both Asiwaju Tinubu and the House Speaker November last year when their tenure was about to end to indicate to the duo that he was still wishing to serve another time if he was considered appropriate and that none of them objected to his declaration of intent.
On the reaction or intervention of political leaders in Ikorodu on this matter, Mr. Odesanya said he had officially notified the apex political body in Ikorodu led by Prince Abiodun Ogunleye and that the body set up a committee led by Alhaji Muslim Animashaun (aka De Cubano) to consult with the House Speaker on the issue but no positive result has been received.
Mr. Odesanya, therefore, challenged the two serving Legislators, especially Agunbiade, who has stayed in the House of Assembly for twelve (12) years, to tell Ikorodu people why under their watch, the division lost its quota in the House Service Commission. Said he, “It is not about me because I have served my term and it is not automatic that I must return for a second term, but it is about Ikorodu losing its representation.”
On the implication of this development, if employment or the issue of discipline of staff members of the Assembly or Commission comes up, there is nobody Ikorodu Constituency can run to because they have been deprived of adequate representation on the Commission that caters for such issues.
Meanwhile, in his own reaction to Hon. Odesanya’s allegations, Hon. Nurudeen Solaja, lawmaker representing Ikorodu Constituency II in the Lagos State House of Assembly, said he did not know anything about how Ikorodu Division was shortchanged in the composition of the current Lagos State House of Assembly Service Commission.
He said that he is a new member in the house and as a result, there are many things he’s not privy to, including the composition and nomination of members of the Assembly’s Service Commission.
Hon. Solaja explained that he only got to know about the composition of the current Commission members when the Speaker read out the names of nominees during one of their plenary sessions, and that he believed he would have discussed the issue with other Principal Officers of the house before doing that.
He, however opined that Hon. S.O.B. Agunbiade, who represented Ikorodu Constituency I and the Majority Leader of the House, is more conversant with the process and should know more about the issue considering his position as one of the Principal Officers of the house.
When Oriwu Sun contacted Alhaji Musiliu Animashaun, APC chieftain in Ikorodu, to hear his view on the issue, he accused Honourable Sanai Agunbiade of being fully aware of what happened but just intending. He explained that Honourable Jimi Benson had also spoken to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu about the issue but nothing has been done about it.
“Myself, Alhaji Gaffar, Alhaji Badru Enifeni and Otunba T.J Olasunkanmi went to the Speaker of the House but we didn’t meet him. SOB has not been factual enough, what he did is really bad. He is the Majority Leader, he could have even picked another person from Ikorodu even if it is Alhaji R. Jinadu or even other people from Imota or Ijede”, he said.
Meanwhile, when contacted over the issue, Hon. Agunbiade said he would get back to our reporter.
The first Lawmaker said Hon. Odesanya has not spoken to him over the issue, although he is aware of his grouse; he, however, promised to contact him for a discussion.