By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The 38 Commissioners and Special Advisers nominees of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu have been screened by 16-man ad-hoc committee set up by the Lagos State House of Assembly.
The Governor had first sent 25 names to the state parliament before sending another 13 some days ago.
Last Thursday, the panel screened six of the 13 nominees and the remaining seven on Friday at the Lateef Jakande Auditorium of the Assembly Complex in Ikeja.
This was after the first batch of 25 nominees were screened by the committee led by the Chief Whip of the House, Mr Rotimi Abiru.
The exercise featured intensive screening of each nominee’s resume and what innovative idea such nominee would bring on board.
The nominees screened in the second batch were Mr Oladele Ajayi, Mr Oluwatoyin Fayinka, Mrs Yetunde Arobieke, Mr Olanrewaju Sanusi, Mr Kabiru Abdullahi and Mr Joe Igbokwe.
Others were Mr Bonu Solomon Saanu, Mrs Lola Akande, Prince Anofi Elegushi, Mrs Solape Hammond, Mr Moruf Akinderu-Fatai, Mrs Shulamite Adebolu and Mr Tokunbo Wahab.
Addressing journalists at the end of the screening, Mr Abiru said the House of Assembly would get back to the nominees through the Governor, expressing satisfaction with the competence of the nominees, saying the state would be better with their wealth of experience.
He said that the committee would present its report to the Assembly of 40 members before final decision on their confirmation or otherwise would be taken.
“This has been a very tough exercise; we have now taking the entire 38 nominees of the governor (25 in the first batch and 13 in the second batch).
“From what we have seen, we have knowledgeable and intelligent people that actually understand how government will work to succeed.
“It is a mix-we have technocrats, politicians and people who believe that it does not matter the divide they belong to, that what is mostly important is the urge and zeal to deliver service.
“They have seen this as a call to service and have actually pledged before us that they will put all that God has endowed them to ensure that good governance is witnessed with the present administration and that the people of Lagos will enjoy the dividends of democracy,” the lawmaker said.
He commended the committee members for asking the nominees intelligent questions, saying that none of the nominees was treated as a sacred cow in the best interest of the state.
Mr Abiru said that only three nominees in all, who were former lawmakers, were allowed to “take a bow” without serious scrutiny.
“I want to assure Lagosians that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has a very good team, a team that will deliver dividends of democracy to the people of Lagos,” he added.
