Speakership: Titanic race for Lagos Assembly hot seat
By SESAN OLUFOWOBI
Tuesday, 17 May 2011

Although the Action Congress of Nigeria won all the 40 seats in the Lagos State House of Assembly, there is a hot contest for the speakership of the House, SESAN OLUFOWOBI writes

When the elected members of the Lagos State House of Assembly sit for inauguration in June, the main issue that will be on the mind of the lawmakers and other stakeholders in the state is who becomes speaker out of the 40 members of the House.

There are ongoing permutations and horse -trading among the elected members of the House, leaders of the Action Congress of Nigeria and other interested parties. Some names are being touted for speakership; some are seen as genuine and others are seen as mere rabble rousers, who just want to use the opportunity created by the squabbles to realise their selfish ambition of getting juicy appointments in the House.

However, serious attention is being given to four elected members of the house, who have, more or less, made their intention known. They include the incumbent Speaker of the House, Adeyemi Ikuforiji; former deputy speaker of the House, Mrs. Olufunmilayo Tejuoso; the Majority Leader, Mr. Kolawole Taiwo, and Deputy Majority Leader, Mr. Ajibayo Adeyeye.

The ACN is lucky in one regard; it won all the 40 available seats in the assembly, so, the issue of who becomes the next Speaker of the Centre of excellence might be treated as a family affair.

A member of the House, who pleaded anonymity, told our correspondent that the issue of speakership would be determined by the leaders of the party, who, he said had a firm grip on the members of the House.

He said, “Don’t forget that all of us are in the House by the grace of our leaders. The party primaries were practically selections. 22 of us are returning, while the rest are new members. I want to believe that apart from those who will get other political positions; others who did not return were those the leaders saw as becoming lone rangers instead of team players.”

Ikuforiji is believed to to be most favoured because he has the support of a strong ACN leader and former governor of the state, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

A former lecturer, Ikuforiji, who is from Epe became a member of the House in 2003. He contested the speakership position with Jokotola Pelumi, but lost. When Pelumi was removed by his colleagues in December 2005, Ikuforiji was elected Speaker. He was re-elected Speaker in June 2007 and was able to manage the House properly.

Shortly before the governorship/House of Assembly elections, Ikuforiji clinched the Ikeja State Constituency 1 ticket. On April 26, 2011, the ACN won the election in the constituency and he bounced back to become a force to reckon with for speakership position.

But it was gathered that the Tinubu factor might not be enough to ensure Ikuforiji emerges speaker again. While the party leaders are said to be tired of the faceoff between the executive and the legislative arms of the government and might persuade Tinubu to shift his support, other ambitious members of the House are desirous of a power shift.

One of them is Tejuoso from Mushin Constituency II. Born on March 25, 1965 to the family of Chief and late Mrs. Emmanuel Smith, the former deputy speaker has been in the House since 2003.

Apart from the fact that Tejuoso is returning to the House for the third time, she also has an axe to grind with Ikuforiji; she was impeached at an unusual emergency plenary session in August 2009.

When Ikuforiji put the matter to vote, 28 lawmakers voted in favour of Tejuoso’s removal, while three were against it and one abstained. Tejuoso was accused of gross misconduct bordering on disrespect to the House, high-handedness and violation of the assembly’s rules and ethics.

Ikuforiji said he was not happy about Tejuoso’s impeachment but added that his hands were tied.

But a source close to the former deputy speaker put the blame on Ikuforiji. She said, “He could have prevented it if he wanted, but he did not.”

Now Tejuoso is keen on becoming speaker. She is not coming as a noise maker; she is believed to have the support of one of Tinubu’s lieutenants and a political godfather in his own right, Dr. Muiz Banire, who is the state Commissioner for the Environment.

Tejuoso is using Banire to pressurise Tinubu to dump Ikuforiji, saying that since he has been in the position since 2005, it is time for another person to take over. It was learnt that she has the support of some of her returning colleagues in this venture.

Kolawole is another member, who has his eyes on the Speakership. He has told those close to him that his current office as the Majority Leader of the House placed him in good stead to mount the saddle as the next Speaker of the assembly.

It was gathered that while the going was sour between Fashola and his mentor, Tinubu, Ikuforiji was penciled as the next governor. Kolawole, who was said to be trusted by the ACN leaders, was subsequently positioned as Speaker.



He was allowed to handle proceedings in the House by the incumbent Speaker, which was seen as a growing process for the Majority Leader to take over the mantle of leadership as Speaker from Ikuforiji.



However, the eventual adoption of Fashola by Tinubu and other party elders scuttled the plan. But Kolawole is, however, unwilling to relinquish his dream of becoming the next Speaker. Members who are sympathetic to Kolawole are already questioning the rationale behind Ikuforiji’s continuous stay as the Speaker.



Kolawole is believed, by those close to him, to have “deep interest” in the post.



He is said to be working on the theory that he was prepared for the position as one of the principal officers in the House who had supported Ikuforiji over the years.



However, some other members are already bringing up the issue of zoning in the sharing of political offices and appointments in the state.

While the governor is from Lagos Central, his newly elected deputy is from Lagos West. The members are saying that the position of number three citizen in the state should naturally come from Lagos East.

If the zoning system is followed to the letter in the power sharing arrangement of the state, Adeyeye might benefit.

Adeyeye, who is currently the Deputy Majority Leader of the House has, however, shown little or no interest in becoming the Speaker.



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