Lagos Lawmakers Resume, House Keeps Mum On Committees

Lagosians and lawmakers who had thought that the Lagos State House of Assembly would set up committees for oversight functions in this seventh Assembly were yesterday disappointed when throughout the sitting, the leadership of the House did not mention anything about it.

The lawmakers had started the day’s sitting by 2.05pm as against the usual 10am after they had met at an executive session.

The popular belief was that a major issue of the day would be the setting up of the committees which were dissolved at the middle of the sixth Assembly. The disappointed was first felt after the day’s order paper was released.

The only two issues on the paper were:

1. The laying of report on the review of the business rules and standing orders of the House by the Majority Leader, Ajibayo Adeyeye, who led an eight-man ad-hoc committee set up by the Speaker of the House, Adeyemi Ikuforiji, for that purpose.

2. Presentation of report on the administrative guidelines for local governments by the Deputy Speaker of the House, Taiwo Kolawole.

After the inauguration of the House for the seventh Assembly in June this year, the lawmakers immediately sat and passed into law some bills that were carried over from the last session.

They also screened the nominees for the executive council of the state.

Since then, there has been apprehension in the House over who would be chosen into what committee of the House.

Assembly Matters reported sometime ago that there was intense lobbying by members for some juicy committees.

A principal officer of the House had told Assembly Matters that the recess would be an avenue for the listing of the committees and those to be appointed into them.

A source, haowever, told Assembly Matters after the sitting that it is not too late to set up the committees. According to him, the list was in its final stage of consideration and would be made known very soon.

The sitting was witnessed by 36 members including most of the principal officers of the Assembly.

Apologising for the late commencement of the day’s proceedings, the Speaker said it was due to some pressing matters that needed to be sorted out since it was the first day of normal activities following a recess that lasted approximately six weeks.