Having declared all the appointments made between 1st of February and 28th May 2019 as last minute exercise created by immediate past Governor Ibikunle Amosun which that didn’t follow process, the Ogun State House of Assembly has passed a bill and three resolutions nullifying all appointments of permanent secretaries and general managers, employments of staff into Civil Service and upgrading of Baales and Chiefs to Coronet Obas.
Recall that former Governor Ibikunle Amosun was on April 10 appointed 18 permanent secretaries and two general managers for Ogun State Broadcasting Corporation (OGBC) and Ogun State Television; employments of 2,000 staff into the State Civil Service and upgrading of new 75 Baales and Chiefs to the position of Coronet Obas.
Speaking on the floors of the House on Friday, Speaker of the Assembly, Suraju Ishola Adekunbi, who had earlier announced the appointment of Olusola Sonuga as its new Majority Leader after due consultation with members of the majority party – the All Progressives Congress (APC), reeled out reversal of all the appointments, employments and upgrading undertaken during the tenure of immediate past government.
The passage of the bill entitled H. B 047/OG/2019- “Nullification of Irregularities (Amendment) Law, 2019″at the plenary presided over by Speaker Suraju Ishola Adekunbi, followed the suspension of the Assembly’s standing orders 45 – 48 to allow for the consecutive second and third readings of the bill.
Consequently, after the first reading of the bill on the floor of the Assembly by the Deputy Clerk, Deji Adeyemo and extensive debate by members of the Assembly during its second reading, motion for the third reading was moved by the new Majority Leader, Olusola Sonuga, seconded by Olawale Alausa and supported by the Whole House through a voice vote by the Whole House at the Assembly Complex at Oke-Mosan in Abeokuta.
Earlier while opening debate on the bill, Deputy Speaker, Olakunle Oluomo, noted that the bill was an amendment to the one earlier passed by the Assembly at the inception of l Ibikunle Amosun – led government to reverse all irregularities especially on employment of over 2, 000 workers purportedly appointed by the then Daniel administration few months to the take off of the Senator Ibikunle Amosun led government.
Earlier in their separate submissions, members including the Deputy Speaker, Olakunle Oluomo; Akinpelu Aina, Olusola Bankole, Olusola Sonuga and Adebowale Ojuri, said the last minute appointments, upgrading and employment by the last administration did not follow due process, lacked merit, not in good faith and was lopsided.
They equally submitted that all financial transactions with any financial institution done by the administration not approved through the House of Assembly resolution should not be honoured by the current government.
Adeyemo thereafter did the third reading of the bill, while Speaker Adekunbi directed that the clean copy of the bill should be forwarded to the new Governor, Dapo Abiodun for his assent.
The Assembly passed a resolution directing the State Government to immediately dissolve all chairmen and members of statutory boards and parastatals having been paid their severance allowance by the immediate past administration. The lawmakers urged all chairmen to hand over government property within their custody to the most senior Director or Public servant in their agency for continuous operation of government activities.
In a related development, the Assembly through a resolution has equally suspended all political functionaries in all Local Government Councils and Local Council Development Councils (LCDAs) in the State.
Consequently, it directed all Local Government political office holders to hand over to the Head of Local Government Administration in their respective councils and LCDAs, while enjoining the Chairmen and House leaders to appear before the Assembly on 7th of June, 2019 for appropriate investigation on allegations of gross misconduct and misappropriation of public fund in petitions earlier submitted against some of the local government chairmen.
The Assembly unanimously passed another resolution calling for the reversal and review of all the upgrading of traditional rulers including Obas and Baales done within the same period for holistic assessment by the new administration with a view to promoting peaceful coexistence and entrenching good governance in the State.
In their separate remarks, Akinpelu Aina, Viwanu Ojo, Olawale Alausa, Israel Jolaoso, Rasaq Oduntan and Adebiyi Adeleye citing instances of the irregularities, reported that their were series of complaints on the promotion and appointments of new monarchs, saying that the traditional institutions and relevant stakeholders were not consulted.
RAZAQ AYINLA, Abeokuta
