Work Closely, Former Clerk Advises Fashola, Ikuforiji

The immediate Permanent Secretary/Clerk of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Taiwo Olatunji, has urged the executive and legislative arms of the State government to ensure that their relationship is kept unbroken.

Where there is any issue between them, Mr. Olatunji advised that they should ensure they resolve such before they come into public domain.

Olatunji, who retired from active service on 29 August, called on Governor Babatunde Fashola and the Speaker, Adeyemi Ikuforiji to be like siamese twins that will be difficult to separate as this would both be beneficial to them and the society.

According to Olatunji, who was honoured with a special session by the lawmakers, they should not allow no-do-gooders to come in-between and incite one against the other.

“As for other honourable members, I enjoin you to see the Speaker as primus-inter-pares and work closely with him as much as possible,” he said.

He disclosed that he was at the receiving end during the face-off between the two arms last year as both parties perceived him as the agent of the other side who could not be trusted.

“But I remained an impartial umpire, unrepentantly committed to searching desperately for peace. In the course of finding durable and long-lasting solution to the misunderstanding, some sections of the populace continued to promote acrimony by engaging in sensational speculations that did not help the course of peace due to the benefits accruing to them therefrom.

“The distance that I covered in my attempt to mobilise eminent people to intervene and halt the drift into chaos cannot not be quantified. At long last, the mission to bring the two sides together finally succeeded and I heaved a sigh of relief,” he reminded the lawmakers.

Members present at the sitting showered encomiums on the Clerk, nicknamed as ‘World Clerk’ because of his administrative prowess.

He was variously described as , hardworking, disciplinarian, brilliant, intelligent, forthright, bold, stubborn yet obedient, self-confident but not arrogant, an octopus in administration, productive, resilient, friendly and thorough.