A
cross section of Lagos residents on Wednesday stormed the State House of
Assembly demanding the confirmation of one of the cabinet nominees by the state
governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode.
Ambode
had forwarded a list of 37 would-be cabinet members to the House including Dr
Femi Onanuga for confirmation.
The
House, in turn, had set up a 15-man ad-hoc committee to screen the governor's nominees
before clearance as commissioners and special advisers.
The
committee is being chaired by the Deputy Speaker of the House, Wasiu Sanni-Eshinlokun.
But
a concerned resident of the state, Oladele Benson had petitioned the House over
the inclusion of Onanuga in the list forwarded to the House by the governor.
The
petitioner had hinged his objection to Onanuga's confirmation on alleged
misappropriation of funds.
According
to Benson in the petition dated September 28, 2015, “Dr Olufemi Onanuga was a
member of Ikoyi Club 1938 and we both served as members of the General
Committee of the club between 2007 and 2008. He was then the vice-chairman of
the club and I was the chairman of the Billiards and Snooker section of the
club. As a result of diverse investigation into financial/ administrative
activities in Ikoyi Club 1938, Dr Olufemi Onanuga had to face disciplinary
panel in the club, which led to his expulsion from the club."
As
a follow up to the petition, a group identified as Lagos Good Governance
Coalition (LAGCO) also petitioned the
House asking that Onanuga should not be confirmed for reason of his
alleged indictment by the Ikoyi Club 1938.
But
the residents, who stormed the Lagos Assembly complex on Wednesday, urged the
lawmakers in the state to ignore the opposition against Onanuga's confirmation.
The
residents insisted that the allegations against Onanuga were unfounded and
totally baseless.
According
to the residents, the writer of the petition against Onanuga (Benson), was only
doing so for selfish reasons, and that the House should go ahead to confirm the
governor's nominee as a cabinet member.
Responding
to the concerns of the residents, a member of the ad-hoc committee of the House
and member representing Epe Constituency II, Segun Olulade, said the House
would act on the request of the residents.
He
assured the residents that Onanuga would be given fair hearing on the
allegations against him.
Earlier,
while speaking against the backdrop of the petition, Eshilokun had disclosed
that the House, as a responsive and responsible institution, would not
automatically disqualify the governor's nominees based on petitions against any
of them.
He
had specifically assured that the nominees would be allowed to respond to the
petitions against any of them.
"Any
petition against any of the nominees will not amount to automatic
disqualification. We will confront them with such petitions and allow them to
respond.
"What
I'm principally saying is that we will give the nominees fair hearing and then
the House will come up with an appropriate decision," Eshilokun stated.
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