9th December, 2013
EROMOSELE EBHOMELE
Members of the Lagos State House of Assembly, western Nigeria on Monday suspended the confirmation of four nominees for the board of the state Water Regulatory Commission sent to them by the state governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola.
The members suspended the confirmation after screening the nominees owing to complaints by some members that they were not satisfied with some of the nominees and that they had problems with the list.
Those screened include Taiwo Adesanya Sebioba, a Chattered Accountant and indigene of Ikorodu as chairman of the commission; Professor Olarenwaju Fagbohun with speciality in Environmental Law, Samuel Onafowokan and Adedoyin Idowu Owolabli, the immediate past President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN).
Though Professor Fagbohun and Owolabi were asked to take a bow and leave the floor, a gesture that they had been certified worthy by the members, some of them who later spoke with P.M. NEWS expressed concerns over what they described as a poor outing by Mr. Sebioba.
Sebioba, while addressing the lawmakers, had agreed that the state had problems with water supply to houses saying as a result, he would subscribe to a public-private partnership strategy.
“The problem with boreholes arise because government cannot provide water. Government has to control the issue of boreholes.
“There should be a borehole for particular areas so that there could be a way the various houses around could get water,” he said adding: “if I have a borehole and someone has a sewer very close to it, then there is a problem.”
He said the water law of the state is specific in the sense that it stipulates that the government must have water for the people but that the law also makes provision for recouping what is spent investing in the sector.
“My function as the chairman will be to provide leadership for the board by following what is stipulated in the law,” he said.
On how he hopes to regulate the pure water business in the state, he said he was challenged by the fact that the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC also has regulatory responsibility over producers of sachet water.
Chief Whip of the House, Rasaq Balogun, urged the nominees to strictly adhere to the stipulations of the law regulating their activities saying the board has 18 functions including Section 54 which says the commission must render its audit to the state House of Assembly.
Sanai Agunbiade, another member of the House, asked Sebioba to tell the House how he would end up not betraying the trust the government has on him.
While answering the questions, the Speaker asked him to “take a bow and go.”
But some of the members, during the confirmation exercise raised objection. One of them, Mudashiru Obasa, said he was not satisfied with the list.
He was supported by Suru Avoseh and Ipoola Omisore while Olusegun Olulade urged the House leadership to give the members the opportunity to express their reservations where they are not satisfied.
“If any of the nominee does not satisfy the lawmakers or where the list is not satisfactory enough, the members should be made to do so,” he said.
In his response, Speaker Ikuforiji said he was prepared to move that the House confirm the nominees saying the governor should be commended for following the law by sending the nominees to the House.
He however said he could not ignore the complaints from members of the House. He therefore asked that the confirmation exercise be suspended till the issue is discussed at a parliamentary session.