Lagos State All Progressives Congress (APC) Governors’ Advisory Council (GAC) is wading into the crisis rocking the House of Assembly, it was learnt on Sunday.
The party leaders were alarmed at the decision of the Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa, to wield the big stick against four legislators without prior consultation with the party leadership.
According to party sources, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, his deputy, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, and party chairman, Tunde Balogun, were not carried along by the Speaker.
Many GAC members expressed surprise that the decision to indefinitely suspend Moshood Oshun( Lagos Mainland) and Raheem Adewale( Ibeju/Lekki) was taken without recourse to the party.
Also, Rotimi Abiru( Somolu) was dropped as Chief Whip and Olumuyiwa Jimoh as Deputy Majority Leader.
The shake-up, it was learnt, was the fallout of the rift between Obasa and Senator Bayo Pepper Osinowo, a former member of the House. The affected lawmakers are said to be close to the senator, who is one of the leaders of the Mandate Group, an influential caucus within the Lagos APC.
Osinnowo played a role in Obasa’s emergence as Speaker.
The bone of contention was the manner in which cars were purchased for the lawmakers. But, sources said there were personal issues tearing apart the lawmakers.
Oshun, who was not allowed entry into the House, has reported the matter to some leaders in Lagos Central. Jimoh was said to have reported his ordeal to the Interior Minister, Chief Rauf Aregbesola.
Abiru’s office was temporarily sealed off and his personal aides were denied entry.
Osinnowo, on hearing the news, was said to be perplexed, and he vowed to fight back, the source said.
GAC leader Prince Oluyole Olusi was inundated with complaints about the tension in the House, immediately the news about the harsh sanctions broke out.
Among party elders who called him was Chief Lanre Rasak, who pleaded with him to urgently resolve the imbroglio.
Olusi was said to have doubted whether the leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who is abroad, was consulted by the Speaker.
According to Olusi, the timing was bad, as it coincided with a period of storm and stress at the national level when some party stalwarts were plotting the removal of the national chairman, Comrade Adams Oshionhole, in bad faith.
He felt that insinuation may now be made that the Lagos APC has been seized by internal contradictions and self-inflicted crisis. He berated the lawmakers for their insensitivity.
In his view, if the crisis persist, it may be illogically interpreted as an explosion in Tinubu’s Lagos political base by foes who may deliberately blow the matter out of proportion.
Following the suspension, Olusi had mandated another GAC member, Alhaji Mutiu Are, to conduct a preliminary investigation and report back to him.
Also, when the elder statesman contacted the party chairman, Balogun, he reported to him that Obasa met with the governor, deputy governor and himself at the Government House, Alausa, Ikeja, after firing his colleagues.
Balogun reiterated his opinion that the punishment was too harsh, considering the fact that the lawmakers are loyal party members and partners in progress with the Speaker in the House.
He told Olusi that the matter can still be resolved, following the timely intervention of party elders.
A source said a meeting has been slated for this week to hear the grievances of the Speaker and his sacked colleagues.
It was reliably gathered that the removal and suspension of the lawmakers was orchestrated by the Speaker in an attempt to politically consolidate himself. He is said to be nursing a senatorial ambition in 2023 in the Lagos West District.
Not only were the lawmakers removed and suspended, their offices were sealed.thus, they were prevented assess to the Assembly premises. They were also removed from the 40 member-House social media platform.
Obasa was allegedly set up a political structure, “Obasa Movement,” a caucaus of loyalists across the 10 local governments that constitute the Lagos West Senatorial District. The Speaker whose once upon a time cordial relationship with Senator Sikiru Osinowo, a four time member from Kosofe Constituency 2 at the House of Assembly before he moved to the Senate after the 2019 general elections was said to be having irreconcilable differences in the last few months. The fallout, according to sources, has also negatively affected the relations between the Speaker and former Governor of Osun State and the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola.
The activities of Obasa Movement was seen to be undermining the Alimosho apex leadership, led by Alhaji Enilolobo, a state officer of APC and a top political lieutenant of Aregbesola. There is a plot to whittle down the influence of Senator Sikiru Osinowo, his mentor who made him the Speaker. The senator is now being described as the leader of “external forces.”
The game plan is to ckeckmate Osinnowo’s loyalists, including Lateef Abiru, Chief Whip, and Wahab Jimoh, deputy majority leader, Moshood Osun and Raheem Adewale indefinitely suspended. However, two of the 26 members of the House who were said to have signed the removal of the two principal officers were not in the country when the letter was purportedly signed.
The purchase of vehicles for N2.4b for the 40 lawmakers in the spate of 11 months at allegedly inflated prices was said to have unsettled the Speaker. The four lawmakers have alleged that the purchase of the vehicles was said to be characterized by secrecy and lack due process. The action infuriated many lawmakers and top management staff of the Assembly, who described it as an act of betrayal.
According to sources, the House, sometimes last year, awarded contract for 40 cars for members of the House and in less than 10 months, another contract was awarded for the purchase of cars for same lawmakers with huge disparity between that of the six principal officers and the members. While the contract stipulated Toyota Land Cruisers for the principal officers, other lawmakers were to get Toyota Prado at a N51.8m and N36.5m each respectively. The two set of contracts for same set of lawmakers was awarded under the period of 10 months.
The contract document, according to sources, revealed that the first set of 40 cars valued at N752, 905, 775 were delievered sometimes late last year while the second batch, which was awarded in two set, cost the Assembly a whopping N311, 123, 595 and N1.3bn respectively to same company which sources disclosed has Mr. Speaker’s interest.
The Speaker is also involved in a battle of political supremacy at his Agege base with notable leaders and party chieftains, including Prof. Babatunde Samuel, a former Special Adviser. Obasa was said to have also confronted the Ogundimu political group. Ogundimu lawmaker representing Agege Constituency 02.
The secretary of ther party, Lanre Ogunyemi, sid the chapter frowned at the harsh sanctions because the speaker failed to carry any leader of the party along.
A chieftain, Alhaji Idris said: “The offices of the principal officers of the House was not Obasa’s making, but that of the party leadership, which zoned the offices to local governments. The constitution only recognises the offices of the Speaker and deputy Speaker, but other principal officers were created by the rules of the House for proper and effective coordination of the legislative workload of the House. The party leadership has always been responsible for the sharing of these offices, including that of the Speaker and deputy among members of the House putting local governments into considerations. So, it is not Obasa’s making and he can not unmade what he did not made in this case.
“On the indefinite suspension of two members of the House, the Speaker erred because his action was against the Supreme Court rulling which says a member can not be suspended indefinitely.”
A member of staff of the legislative arm, who pleaded anonymity, said: “If only the Speaker is not sensitive. During the time of his predecessors time, especiallyYemi Ikuforiji, we knew the mood of the House because of the steps they took on staff welfare.”
A source said the party leadership has directed the Speaker to reverse his decision and restore the principal officers, Abiru, Somolu 02 and Jimoh, Apapa 02, Moshood Oshun, Mainland 02 and Raheem, Ibeju Lekki 02.
The Speaker has selelcted new members to replace them. Would he now cancel the appointments, restore the folmer holders and lift the suspension in the spirit of reconciliation. (The Nation)
