By Olanrewaju Adesanya
The Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly Rt Hon. Mudashiru Obasa at the House plenary on Monday August 26, 2024, swiftly saved the Executive Chairman of Alimosho Local Government from being suspended or removed from office.
Responding to a letter read by the Clerk of the House Barrister Olalekan Onafeko regarding the council boss Mr. Sulaimon Jelili’s refusal to comply with the house resolution, on the fracas that broke out in Iyana Ipaja market within Alimosho local government over toll collections.
Lawmakers had raised highbrows on Jelili’s alleged recalcitrant and obstinate stance at resolving the said impasse.
One person had been killed on April 16, 2024, when fracas occurred in Iyana-Ipaja over allegations that council chairman forcefully withdrew the collection of revenues from Abiodun Ejigbadero and given same to one Omotolani Adebajo (aka Danger) allegedly loyal to him.
After what a member of the House, Hon. Sa’ad Olumoh, described as a painstaking two months investigation in which all parties to the issue were invited, the Assembly directed Jelili to return the market’s toll collection to Ejigbadero, who was able to present all the vital documents requested during the inquiries.
However, the lawmakers surprisingly received a letter from the secretary to the Alimosho Local Government council, Dare Ogunkoya, stating that the chairman cannot obey the resolutions of the House concerning the matter.
According to the said letter, the council chairman maintained that his compliance on the resolutions of the House would be contentious.
Reacting to the letter, Hon. Sanni Okanlawon, who chaired the committee that investigated the crisis, described Jelili as a stubborn chairman who would go any length to debase the House.
He recalled that in resolving the matter, the committee invited all the stakeholders including Jelili, who the committee discovered to be the cause of the mayhem.
Okanlawon said while Jelili could not provide any documents, Ejigbadero produced all documents to prove his position as toll collector in the place.
According to Okanlawon, Jelili had remained “defiant and, to say the least, this is an affront against the House that had resolved the issue.”
He urged the House to invoke section 28 A of the local government administration law against the council chairman as a deterrent.
In his contribution, Majority Leader Noheem Adams, said the letter by Ogunkoya undermines the authority of the House which sought peace in the affected area.
Deputy Majority Leader Adedamola Kasunmu told his colleagues, “I can attest to his (Jelili’s) stubbornness. He has shown incompetence and irresponsibility. For us to avert further loss of lives, it is good that he is either immediately removed or suspended.”
In their individual contributions, the two lawmakers from Alimosho, Hon. Kehinde Joseph and Luqman Orelope, pleaded with the House for leniency on the council chairman.
The duo expressed surprise that the council could disobey the House in such a manner, while Joseph urged that the chairman could be suspended instead of an outright removal.
While noting all the contributions, Obasa wondered why Alimosho is always enmeshed in crises adding that the resolution by the House was to ensure peace in the community.
Pacifying the lawmakers, Obasa said the chairman should be given the benefit of doubt since the letter was not directly written by him and, as such, he could claim ignorance.
He, therefore, directed the Clerk to resend the resolutions of the House to the council chairman, the Local Government Service Commission and other top officials of the Alimosho Local Government council.