GOVERNOR Babajide Sanwo-Olu has described as unsolicited the counsel of human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Ebun Adegboruwa to him on the constitution of his cabinet for his second term in office.
Adegboruwa had yesterday in a statement titled “Lagos State Without a Cabinet” urged the governor to constitute his cabinet, stressing that the State House of Assembly has since been inaugurated and its officers duly elected.
“Presently, Lagos State is operating without an Executive Council in place. The House of Assembly has since been inaugurated and its officers duly elected. Money is being spent daily without Commissioners and without an Executive Council duly constituted.
“His Excellency, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu is on the saddle for his second term in office, so he is not new. Dr. Alex Otti, who is a first term governor, has since constituted his cabinet, so too Mr. Ademola Adeleke of Osun State.
“Governor Sanwo-Olu was sworn in for a second term in office on May 29, 2023. It is now well over one month and he seems to be running a one man show. So too, the governors of Oyo and Ogun States, who are also on their second terms in office.
“A State as cosmopolitan and complex as Lagos deserves a functional cabinet, for certainty of administration and predictability of policies.
“I therefore urge the governor to promptly constitute his cabinet without further delay so that Lagos State will not be on auto pilot,” the statement read.
Reacting to the counsel, Governor Sanwo-Olu though his Chief Press Secretary, Gboyega Akosile said, “For the avoidance of doubt, the Nigerian Constitution is very clear about the number of days required for a State Governor to send his nominees for various cabinet offices to the State House of Assembly for legislative approval.
“According to the fifth alteration (No. 23), the bill seeks to alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to require the President and Governors to submit the names of persons nominated as Ministers or Commissioners within sixty days of taking the Oath of Office for confirmation by the Senate or State Houses of Assembly; and for related matters.”
Akosile stated that Governor Sanwo-Olu has only spent 39 days in the office and therefore, has not flouted any law.
“Secondly, we must remind Mr. Adegboruwa, that Lagos remains a model State, where governance issues are taken very seriously and as such, his comparison of the State with other States he used in his submission is laughable.
“We also need to remind the erudite lawyer that Osun State Governor, Mr. Ademola Adeleke was sworn into the office in November, 2022, making it more than seven months before he sent his cabinet nominees to the Osun State House of Assembly,
We must also enlighten Mr. Adegboruwa, that with or without the cabinet members at the moment, the wheel of governance is moving progressively in Lagos.
“The Permanent Secretaries are fully in charge as the Chief Accounting Officers of their individual Ministries, and they are working tirelessly with Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, in conjunction with the Deputy Governor, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, Secretary to the State Government, the Chief of Staff and Deputy Chief of Staff to the Governor as well as the Head of Service, to achieve the administration’s vision of a Greater Lagos Rising anchored on the THEMES+ agenda.”
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