The Centre for Convention on Democratic Integrity (CCDI), a non-governmental organization with the consultative status of the United Nations has urged Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to dialogue with the leadership of the Lagos State House of Assembly on the debacle of the screening of seventeen Commissioner-designates, due to lack of adequate consultations by the governor with necessary stakeholders in the state, before submitting the list of the nominees to the House of Assembly.
In the statement issued on Monday by the President of CCDI, Mr. Olufemi Aduwo, he called on the governor for immediate dialogue with the leadership of the house in the interest of peace and co-existence in the state.
He said, constitutionally, it is a prerogative of the governor to appoint commissioners, likewise, the House of Assembly is empowered to confirm the approval of the nominees. In the appointment of Commissioners, section 192 specifically states that the governor must conform with Section 14(4) of the 1999 constitution as amended which clearly states that the composition of the Government of a State, shall be carried out in such manner as recognized the diversity of the people within its area of authority and the need to promote a sense of belonging and loyalty among all the people. Therefore the appointment must spread across all the Local government areas and also take cognisance of belief.
Nigerians should not be deceived by the term “technocrat,” which implies that a person must hold advanced degrees before they may be a minister or commissioner. In developed economies, the technocrats are in the civil service, the same thing in Nigeria during the Gowon and Shagari regimes. We did not borrow any money during the Civil War, and the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo served as Minister of Finance. He did not take any MBA classes in macroeconomics or finance either. During the Gowon administration, Chief Femi Okunu, a trained lawyer, served as the Minister of Works while Aminu Kano, who was neither a medical practitioner nor degree holder, held the position of Minister of Health. Xavier Becerra, a lawyer, is the current Secretary of Health of the United States. He added that we should not mistakenly equate media praise for political appointees with actual performance. For instance, evaluating the success of the Lagos State Commissioner of Health solely on the basis of COVID-19 management is not the appropriate standard. It was a rare instance where the public lacked complete information regarding the administration of financing.
The situation is not encouraging if you visit any of the Lagos State General hospitals. I am convinced that the House of Assembly is in possession of comprehensive information regarding the performance of former Commissioners who were not confirmed. We want to appeal to the public, not to be deceived by such beer parlor discussion that the house turned down 17 names out of a list of 39 persons presented by the state governor because of religious considerations.
The ball is now in Sanwo-Olu’s court, he could re-submit the rejected names to the House of Assembly, and there must be consultation with the House leadership. He must consult within and outside APC as a ruling party and, more importantly, the Speaker. It would be wrong of the governor to unilaterally nominate all the 37 nominees.
