16th June, 2015
Eromosele Ebhomele
Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa on Tuesday declared that one of the major agenda for the 8th Assembly of the state would be the pursuit of a special status for the state.
To make this achievable, Obasa said the lawmakers would work with their colleagues at the National Assembly.
According to Obasa, who presided over the first sitting of the House after its inauguration recently by the state Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, the need for Lagos to have a special status is long overdue.
He said the demand had become imperative because, apart from being a former federal capital, Lagos still remains the economic and commercial nerve centre of the country and the destination of so many Nigerians seeking better life.
“It is therefore important that the federal government takes a special interest in the state by according it a special status and making necessary provisions to cushion the pressure on infrastructure in the state,” Obasa said.
Obasa’s declaration came after the Majority Leader of the House, Sanai Agunbiade, presented a report on the June 12 Anniversary Lecture which took place in Lagos in commemoration of the annulment of the June 12, 1993 election acclaimed to have been the freest and fairest election and won by the late Chief M.K.O. Abiola.
Agunbiade had said one of the recommendations at the ceremony was that since the All Progressives Congress, APC, has formed the government at the federal level, the state should seize the opportunity to ensure that it is granted the status.
He said almost all participants at the event agreed that there is no better time than now to push for special status since the state will have a listening ear now that the APC is in control at the centre.