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As May 29, 2015 handover date from the current elected government officials to the newly elected ones draws nearer, the anxiety and anticipation emanating from the uncertainty of who becomes the next Speaker for the Lagos State House of Assembly gets more intense. There are three members of Lagos State House of Assembly, who have just been elected and are presently jostling for this juicy position of N0 3 citizen of Lagos State. They are Hon. Saka Fafunmi, Hon. Ajayi Obasa and Hon. Wasiu Eshinlokun.
Hon. Dayo Saka Fafunmi, a serving member of Lagos State House of Assembly, is so much interested in chairing the leadership of the House in the incoming administration. Hon Fafunmi, who has just been re-elected in the just concluded State of Assembly election for the third term under the platform of All Progressive Congress (APC), represents Ifako-Ijaye Local Government Constituency 1 of Lagos State. Hon. Saka Fafunully is presently the Chairman, House Committee on Public Account in the State, and many believe he has successfully utilized this position in monitoring finance meant for so many projects in all the local government areas of the state.
Another person, who is also interested in becoming the next Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly, is Hon. Mudashiru Ajayi Obasa. Indeed, Hon. Obasa is presently one of the high ranking members of Lagos State House of Assembly, having been a member of legislative body representing Agege Constituency 2 since 2003. He is presently the Chairman, House Committee on Economic Planning and Budget of Lagos State. Fortunately for him, Hon. Mudashiru Obasa has just been re-elected again under the platform of All Progressive Congress (APC) into the Lagos State House of Assembly for the fourth time. Some of the leaders of All Progressive Congress in state believe that Hon. Obasa has the required experience to lead the incoming Lagos State House of Assembly members successfully and productively. And they are fully ready to give him support. Also, he is more likely to get the supports and votes of his colleagues in the Lagos State Legislative Chamber when the time is due. As a matter of fact, it was reliably gathered that Hon. Obasa is now moving from one place to another, lobbying and trying to win the incoming legislators and the stakeholders of the party to his side in order to ensure that he becomes the next Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly.
The last but not the least of those aspiring to be the next Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly is Hon. Wasiu Sanni Eshinlokun. Hon. Eshinlokun has just been elected under the platform of All Progressive Congress (APC) for the second time as a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly, representing Lagos Island Constituency 1. He had been a member of Lagos State House of Assembly from 1999 to 2013. He was the immediate past Chairman of Lagos Island Local Government Council. The story of Hon. Wasiu Eshinlokun becoming a Lagos State lawmaker-elect was so peculiar and interesting. Hon. Wasiu Eshinlokun Sanni had contested the Lagos APC primaries for Lagos Island Constituency I seat with four other aspirants on December 2, 2014 primary elections, and he emerged the winner with 186 votes. The closest person to him was Hon. Hakeem Agboola-Masha, the incumbent lawmaker, who scored 70 votes. However, to Eshinlokun Sanni’s dismay, it was Hakeem Agboola-Masha’s name that was on the candidates’ list of INEC. The excuse given was that the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party met based on a petition written by Hakeem Masha that Eshinlokun Sanni was one of the party members that signed his own nomination form and therefore, he was not qualified to contest the primary election with him.
Another point noted in this petition was that Eshinlokun Sanni had flouted one of the laws of the party by resigning his position as General Secretary of the party 16 days to the election instead of the 30 days stipulated by the party’s constitution. It was based on these allegations that NWC of the party was said to have nullified his election and substituted his name with that of Hakeem Agboola-Masha.
However, Hon. Wasiu Eshinlokun was given back his mandate, by a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, to contest for the Lagos State House of Assembly election, which has been held on Saturday 11th of April 2015. A Federal High Court had given him back his mandate when it ordered INEC to restore his name on candidates’ register in place of Hon. Hakeem Agboola Masha, whose name was earlier forwarded by APC to INEC.
Today Hon. Wasiu Sanni Eshinlokun is not just an incoming legislator of the Lagos House of Assembly; he has actually been penciled by some leaders of the party to be the next Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly. This revelation has prompted many to wonder how reasonable and possible would it be for a second term legislator, who had been cut off from the legislative activities since 2013, to be made a speaker that will preside over the long existing and senior legislative members. It would be recalled that there had been an allegation that the substitution of Eshinlokun Sanni’s name for Agboola Masha was aided by a powerful circle in the Lagos State House of Assembly, who were reacting to a speculation that Eshinlokun was being positioned as the next Speaker of Lagos House of Assembly.
However, today that speculation is now gradually becoming a reality as the same Hon. Wasiu Sanni Eshinlokun has been anointed, by the power that be, as the next Speaker of Lagos House of Assembly. Could this eventually become a reality? How possible is it? Well, in Nigerian politics, nothing, they say, is impossible especially when you have an almighty godfather by your side.
