By Alabi Williams 20 January 2025 | 4:41 am
When Governor Sanwo-Olu was to constitute a cabinet for his second term around August-September 2023, the Lagos House of Assembly, the official clearing house for such matters, opted to give the governor a little headache. But at the end of the day, the 17 nominees out of the 39, that were initially denied clearance got the nod of the lawmakers, after some intervention. That appeared to be an unusual development for Lagos and some, including this writer, expressed some worry.
Subscribe To The Best Team In Conservative, Business, Technology, Lifestyle And Digital News Realtime! support@ddnewsonline.com
To try and make sense of that face-off, which seemed uncalled for, except to just flex muscle, one tried to do an appreciation of it here in an article published on September 11, 2023, titled: Lagos: That flexing of muscles over commissioner-nominees.
To get up to speed with the eventual sacking of former Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa last week, the four opening paragraphs of that article are reproduced.
“That flexing of muscles in Lagos between Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Speaker Mudashiru Obasa, over the list of commissioner-nominees is on the surface a minor matter that could have been trashed via phone chats between the two political leaders. But it dragged beyond what Lagosians were used to. Third parties joined the fray, in addition to commentators, some who were quick to place culpability, cleverly avoiding to link a complicit hegemony.
“As we know already, similar face-offs are rampant in other jurisdictions across the country. In some, you cannot question the chief executive of the state over his list of commissioner-nominees or whomever he decides to hire to assist his work. You cannot even debate any matter with some governors, talk less invite them to listen to a body that has no mention in the Constitution.
“As they say in local parlance, who born you to query the governor on whatever subject he decides upon under his command? You could do that outside his ruling party, where opposition characters rant forever and no one hears them. In the first place, who is a speaker to challenge some of our governors? In any case, who appointed the speaker and from where will he draw the energy to engage in media interviews where he refers to the governor as a colleague, and muster the guts to challenge his decisions? It is no exaggeration if one laments that nearly all governors have their legislature in their inner pockets. In Lagos, the legislature is obviously not in the governor’s pocket, but there are bigger pockets designed for that assignment.
“Maybe we’re jolted because of the optics we’re used to, of a Lagos that is infallible, a democratic model with the three arms working harmoniously and every side keeping religiously to their side of the bargain since 1999. There must be some spell that steadies such rhythm, preventing it from shattering into pieces.’’
That rhythm was shattered last Monday, when in his absence, Obasa was dethroned. That September 2023 article went a bit into history, of how Lagos and the Southwest were politically midwifed by Afenifere to herald the Fourth Republic in 1998/99. Afenifere used to be the Southwest Politburo, whose decisions were final.
But after 2003, Afenifere was demystified, due to acts of omission and commission that aided the invasion of the zone by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former president Obasanjo. Only Lagos State survived that onslaught, and the medal went to the astute Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who weathered the storm and did a second term, while the PDP appropriated the other five states. Tinubu then began to consolidate his own political structure in Lagos and in the capacity of a sole proprietor, he has installed three governors after him and ensured a delicate balancing among the arms of government.
Subscribe To The Best Team In Conservative, Business, Technology, Lifestyle And Digital News Realtime! support@ddnewsonline.com
When the former Speaker, Obasa unnerved Sanwo-Olu over his nominee-commissioners list, discerning Lagosians conjectured that couldn’t have happened without the knowledge of Tinubu, who though had become President, wouldn’t be too busy to abandon his political structure in Lagos for boys to mismanage.
What made that stalemate intriguing while it lasted was the seeming helplessness of the governor, as if prompters in the back-stage wanted him to sweat a bit, to secure some bargain for themselves and supporters. The speaker on that occasion was clearly on a mission but couldn’t have acted alone. It was more like a contrived ambush.
The Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC), showed up to save the day for the governor, typically. This body has no constitutional mention but is influential in the affairs of the state. A source said Tinubu created the GAC to gain a foothold of politics of the state and help administer the grassroots efficiently.
For their efforts, the source claimed they are paid monthly allowance and enjoy the leverage to push names for cabinet appointments and for election. Nothing stops the GAC from stoking confusion, to troubleshoot and gain relevance.
As reported, the GAC had been working behind the scene to address the sacked speaker’s malfeasances. They were said to have held court with President Tinubu during the Christmas/New Year break, during which complaints about the former speaker featured prominently. Obasa was reported to be at the sessions, where he apparently had the opportunity to present his own side, and was admonished to be of good conduct. According to report, he was made to prostrated before the elders, to demonstrate reverence and repentance.
But the glory had departed and the backing of the godfathers had expired. He had outlived his usefulness. Too many theories were thrown around to justify his ousting but there may be hidden truths that are meant for the covens. One of the GAC members said the former speaker had become an emperor. The question to ask is how was he able to dominate his colleagues for that long with no serious resistance?
If probed further, that might yield evidence of a shared culpability. Obasa alone couldn’t be guilty of the weighty fraud allegations that are peddled. The optics don’t attest to that, as the House appeared comfortable with his emperorship while it lasted. It didn’t look like the House rebelled against him on their volition. And if it was a spell, Obasa must have taken a cue from the leader.
That speaks to the quality of legislative representation in the Fourth Republic (generally, not just Lagos), where the processes of recruitment are often hijacked by the godfathers. Primary elections into political offices are not allowed to be free and fair. An aspirant must be recommended by an influential bigwig to gain the endorsement of party owners.
In most cases, character, capacity and competence are not on the table. The outcomes are largely cut and paste individuals with doubtful intellectual and intuitional pedigree, as well as malleable legislatures that are easily pocketed by governors and their godfathers. They do not owe allegiance to their constituents whose votes recommended them, but are quick to acknowledge their godfathers.
It was instructive that the first public act by the new leadership of the Lagos Assembly was to pay a courtesy call on the GAC members, to in the words of the new Speaker, Mojisola Meranda, “obtain their blessings.” Constitutionally, making laws for the people of Lagos, or Edo, Rivers or wherever, does not require the blessing of some godfathers. But that is the way democracy is fabricated in this clime to allocate ownership to godfathers.
Fawning and surrendering to third parties that are not constitutionally recognised is a blight on democracy. It deprives the parliament of the independence it owns to make laws on behalf of the people. The Constitution that created and empowered the legislature does not acknowledge the supremacy of another body that can in any way and manner manipulate legislative activities for the benefit of narrow interests. The legislative House for Lagos, Centre of Excellence, can do far better.
Subscribe To The Best Team In Conservative, Business, Technology, Lifestyle And Digital News Realtime! support@ddnewsonline.com
The less adumbrated of Obasa’s sins, his desire to run as governor of the state come 2027, may actually be his major undoing. The so-called disrespect for the governor could have been pardoned. After all, his acts of legislative arrogance never stopped Sanwo-Olu from doing his job.
If respect for the governor meant so much to the owners of Lagos, are they not aware of the situation in Rivers State, where nearly everybody disrespects Governor Siminalayi Fubara? Legislative business in Rivers is in shambles, courtesy the activities of big people in this government. It is double standards to desire harmony in Lagos and sow discord in Rivers. That’s an aside.
For his subterranean plots and uncritical verbal self-helps, Obasa didn’t realise that he was set to unsteady the apple cart. Kickstarting 2027 without due regards for the leader’s timing and fixtures, was simply reckless.
Even outsiders know that the next set of elections would be a test for President Tinubu to prove that his 2023 presidential victory was no fluke. The presidential election of 2023 demystified Tinubu and nowhere was that more telling than in Lagos, where he lost the election by a noticeable margin.
Winning the 2023 Lagos governorship exerted enormous pressure on the leader and his team. Everything was put into it, including invocation of ancient (traditional) powers and deployment of masquerades to gain electoral advantage.
For 2027, knowing that the average voter has grown wary and suspicious of government’s hardship policies, and in the event that the electoral umpire adheres to its rules, it will not be strategic to leave anything to chance.
Therefore, the candidate to represent the ruling party in Lagos must not be a run-of-the-mill politician with a doubtful identity. The recruitment process must be thorough and the errors of 2023 sufficiently addressed. Lagos State must brace up to set the right mood and tone that will catalyse synergy across the country.
Subscribe To The Best Team In Conservative, Business, Technology, Lifestyle And Digital News Realtime! support@ddnewsonline.com
From the outside, that looks like message that was subtly passed; that nobody is too big to be axed in the task to consolidate President Tinubu’s ambition of a life time.
One hopes the opposition parties in Lagos are not asleep.
Note: This article was first published by The Guardian Newspaper.
Opinions expressed by Columnists/Contributors is theirs and do NOT necessarily reflect the views of DDNewsonline.com