As the race for the next Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly peaks, Assistant Editor, Dare Odufowokan, reports on the leading aspirants’ chances against the debate on zoning
There are strong indications that a certain zoning formula expected to be adopted by members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Lagos State House of Assembly to fill leadership positions in Assembly may be jettisoned.
As the 8th session of the Assembly is expected to convene in June to elect its leadership and commence its proceedings, the expectation within and outside the party is that the position of the Speaker of the Assembly will be ceded to only lawmakers from the Lagos Central Senatorial District.
The assumption that the position will be zoned to the zone may have been informed by the need for the party to carry the people of Lagos Central along in the scheme of things. With the emergence of Akinwunmi Ambode from Lagos East as governor and Oluranti Adebule from Lagos West as deputy governor, many observers have given the speakership to the Central Senatorial District.
However, ahead of the inauguration of the 8th session in June, strong indications have emerged that the party’s leadership in the state may have decided to allow the Assembly members a free hand in selecting its leadership, especially the next Speaker.
Party sources told The Nation that a pressing need to ensure the emergence of a capable and dependable individual as the next helmsman of the state legislature is responsible for the decision to lay less emphasis on the alleged expected zoning arrangement that would have kept lawmakers outside the central district out of the race.
The Nation also learnt that previous precedence where expectations of zoning formula were dashed in preference for stability and competence in the leadership of the legislature are being cited by the promoters of the new thinking within and outside the ruling party, to support their call for the election of the next House leadership based on merit and competence.
“The situation we found ourselves as party leaders after the last general election is such that we must be very cautious and proactive in the way we handle the management of Lagos State henceforth. Things are rapidly changing and we must also adjust with the change if we are to remain in government for a longer time.
In the next Assembly, we are going to have eight vibrant opposition members from our arch-rival, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Not only are they PDP members, some are also non-indigenes elected into the House with bloc votes. We have never had such situations on our hands before. Such a large and critical opposition has never been in the legislature before now.
We must consider all these in deciding who leads the next House if we are desirous of a peaceful and effective administration. The Speaker must be the most competent and the most capable of the people qualified to aspire. For this to happen, less emphasis must be placed on zoning,” a state party official from Lagos Mainland Local Government, told our reporter.
The Nation learnt that the possibility of the zoning arrangement being ignored in the emergence of the next Speaker may be responsible for the ongoing scramble for the coveted positions by about six ranking returning legislators, including those who are not from Lagos Central.
Currently, the list of those keenly interested in the speakership include Honourables S.O.B Agunbiade, a third term legislator from Ikorodu area of Lagos East Senatorial District, Mudasiru Obasa from Agege in the Lagos West Senatorial District and Funmilayo Tejuoso, who was Deputy Speaker between June 2007 and August 2009 before she was impeached, from Mushin in the West Senatorial District too.
Others are Olanrewaju Osun from Lagos Mainland in the Central Senatorial District, Wasiu Esinlokun, who is the immediate past chairman of Lagos Island Local Government in the Central Senatorial District, and once served in the Lagos Assembly 1999 to 2003 and Rotimi Abiru from Somolu Local Government Area of Lagos East Senatorial District.
Of the six, some pundits readily put the race down to a contest among Agunbiade, Oshun, Tejuoso and Eshilokun. Reasons adduced for this permutation range from competence to popularity as well as party influence. But with the party likely to allow the legislators make their own choices, some say it may be difficult for both Eshilokun and Tejuoso to go far in the race.
Following her impeachment as Deputy Speaker of the House in 2009, Tejuoso has tried severally to return as a principal officer of the House but have always been turned down by her colleagues who feel she is not deserving of another opportunity.
“Hon. Tejuoso is a fantastic lawmaker in her own right but it is unlikely she will get the support of our people in her aspiration to be Speaker. This is because a good number of us who witnessed the events that led to her removal in 2009 are still around. About ten of us who were in the House then have been re-elected. So, with such records as hers, it is unlikely if we would want to elect her Speaker,” a member of the House said.
Speaking further, our source said Eshinlokun’s major challenge is the fact that only three of his colleagues in the 1999 to 2003 session would be returning to the House.
“We really cannot say much about Eshinlokun’s capability as a leader. We didn’t meet him in the House. Only three of his colleagues would be returning to the Assembly when we reconvene. So, I don’t see how we will decide to give the speakership to a man we really don’t know as a legislator,” he said.
For Agunbiade, who is being urged on by some of his colleagues based on his credentials, zoning remains the only albatross. And with the indications that an open contest may be declared, he is looking very good to emerge as the next helmsman of the Lagos Assembly.
Reacting to insinuations that he may not be keen about the speakership, Agunbiade said he is very much interested in the job but quickly added that he is also committed to the decision of his party.
“I am not in any way lukewarm about this aspiration. I want to serve Lagos State in the capacity of the Speaker of the next session of the Assembly. It is an aspiration I am very serious about. But like every loyal party man, I am conscious of the fact that the party must be respected at all times,” he said.
Giving reasons why he is in the race, Agunbiade said, “I would expect that the leadership of the new dispensation should be crisis managers, they should be able to anticipate crisis of opinions, ideas, perceptions and when you anticipate, you would prepare to harmonise opinions with the transparency of your leadership to win the confidence of everybody such that when you disagree with a man, he would have confidence in you that you are not disagreeing out of malice, but out of principle and procedure.
The leadership should bring all of the people together, both new and old, legislators of the ruling party and those of the opposition party. We must be futuristic and at the end of the 8th Assembly, they should think of where they want the Assembly to be and it should be higher than where we are now to uphold the principle of the Lagos State House of Assembly being above the common standard of excellence. These are the reasons why I think I am the next man for the job,” he explained.
For Oshun, the zoning argument remains his best chance to get the job. Following the low rating of Eshinlokun for the speakership by his critics, many pro-zoning agitators have thrown their weight behind the Lagos Mainland lawmaker.
“The central district cannot afford to lose the speakership for whatever reason. Even if Eshinlokun is not fit for the job, we have another candidate in Lanre Oshun from the Mainland. What is fair is fair and we will insist on this till the end,” a party leader from Lagos Island told our reporter.
