On August 23, the Lagos State House of Assembly rejected 17 of the 39 commissioners presented by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu. The scale of the rejection was unprecedented since the All Progressives Congress (in its many forms) began to dominate Lagos politics in 1999. The word on the street was that Speaker Mudashiru Obasa wasn’t happy with the Sanwo-Olu-led administration.
Obasa was quick to frame the rejection as part of the democratic process, pointing out that the list of commissioner-nominees did not meet the quality of representation required. “If they have not done well, we have the right to say no,” Obasa said at the time. “And we have said no, so we are not going to be threatened. And it is good to advise the man living in a glass house not to throw stones; if not, the glass may soon be shattered.”
Some analysts offered a number of reasons for the rejection, including that the list did not account for religious and ward diversity. But this was APC’s Lagos (both at the Executive and Legislative level) and it was clear the house was not as united as it should be.
As in many cases of this nature, the party’s highest decision making body in Lagos, the Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC) waded into the matter behind closed doors. On September 7, after Sanwo-Olu had sent in a fresh list, dropping some of his favorites, the House confirmed 15 out of 18 commissioner-nominees, including some who had been earlier rejected. The GAC negotiations appeared to have worked, with compromises on both sides.
Today, the relationship between the executive and legislature appears to have returned to its amicable status-quo. On December 13, Sanwo-Olu presented the 2024 budget to the House. Speaking via a written statement a couple of days later from an Abuja retreat where the legislators had convened, Obasa said the Assembly would pass the budget before the year runs out.
“We are working on the 2024 budget, and that is why we are here,” Obasa said. “I want to assure you that we will do our best to return the approved budget to you as soon as possible. It is going to be a New Year present to you and the people of Lagos.”
He also praised Sanwo-Olu for not unnecessarily interfering in the affairs of the House through actions like sealing up or removing the roof of the assembly complex as has been witnessed in some other states. “That is why Lagos is great and the Lagos assembly is above the common standards of excellence,” Obasa said.
On his part, Sanwo-Olu, who was also at the retreat, said his administration would abide by the budget adjustments made by the House. “There is no animosity between the Speaker and myself,” Sanwo-Olusaid. “We are two different sides of the same coin. We are brothers and friends and God will lead us to a level where we can take Lagos to an irreversible state.
Sanwo-Olu also invoked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who is often regarded as the godfather of Lagos politics. “Mr President is watching us,” the Governor said. “He has no other state that he can call his own. He is the President of Nigeria but he has his roots in Lagos. Our success is his success and Nigeria’s success. When we get it right, the whole nation will be on its way to getting it right.”
But is this renewed joviality in the best interest of Lagosians? The legislature is expected to provide strict oversight. Can it continue to perform this role in an effective manner if the Governor and Speaker are ‘brothers?’
Cletus Famous Nwankwo, a doctoral researcher at the University of Leicester who has examined political participation in Lagos, doubts that this ‘friendly’ relationship is in the public interest.
“Has ‘democracy’ in the true sense of the concept of a system of government ever been practised in Lagos since 1999?” He told The Record. “This is a debatable question, but my position will align more with some analysts who would hold the view that Lagos’s democracy falls short of democracy in the true sense of the concept.”