3rd June, 2015
Jamiu Yisa & Eromosele Ebhomele
The race for the Speakership seat of the Lagos State House of Assembly seems to be heading for a logical conclusion ahead the inauguration of the 8th Assembly.
P.M.NEWS reliably learnt Wednesday that the majority of the returning members may have settled for the Chairman of the outgoing Assembly’s Committee on Budget and Economic Planning, Mudasiru Obasa as the Speaker-designate for the incoming Assembly.
However, it was learnt that there are still some reconciliation to be done to finetune the arrangement because the camps of current Deputy Whip, Rotimi Abiru led by the outgoing Speaker, Adeyemi Ikuforiji; and Princess Adefunmilayo Tejuoso, have kicked against the arrangement.
It was gathered that the lawmakers settled for Obasa at a meeting they held on the night of Tuesday.
On why the lawmakers finally chose Obasa, some of them who spoke with P.M.NEWS said even though he may not be the best or most knowledgeable among them, he is seen as fit for the job.
They listed some of their considerations to include that he is now the longest serving member of the House and therefore has the capacity to carry the members along.
“There are better hands in the House, but he who God has picked, He has picked. We just have to watch how things turn out with him at the helm of affairs,” one of the lawmakers at the meeting told P.M.NEWS this morning.
Our correspondent learnt that the leadership of the All Progressives Congress would still meet to finally decide who is gets the job.
One of the aspirants, Tejuoso, insisted that since the two are the most ranking officers, they should be allowed to face their colleagues on the floor of the Assembly.
Though the idea was rejected, Tejuoso is not relenting in her resolve that members should be allowed to pick their leaders through a voting process on the floor of the Assembly.
It was also decided at the meeting that the remaining six principal offices should be shared equally among the three senatorial districts with the Deputy Speaker going to Lagos Central; Majority Leader going to Lagos East; and Deputy Majority Leader going to Lagos West.
However, all these are still subject to what the members will do when the time for voting comes as nothing can be confirmed as official until the lawmakers publicly choose their leaders.
Obasa who first joined the House as a member in 2003 rose through the ranks to become the chairman of Economic Planning and Budget, a committee considered the juiciest in the House.
Little is really known about Obasa, a law graduate. He is said to have traded in wristwatches before becoming a member of the House.