The Lagos State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has called on the leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, not to interfere in the democratic selection of the leadership of the State House of Assembly.
The PDP also admonished its eight lawmakers in the Assembly to vote according to their best assessments and conscience for the betterment of the state.
Taofik Gani, PDP spokesperson in a statement yesterday, said the party’s stance on this development was provoked by alleged moves of lobbying and coercion of legislators by the APC leadership to vote in favour of a particular candidate, which the PDP has described as “not likely to represent the masses interest, but the interest of his godfathers.”
The PDP’s reaction is coming on the backdrop of insinuations that the Lagos APC has already penciled down Mudashiru Obasa from Agege Constituency 1 and Wasiu Eshinlokun-Sanni from Lagos Island Constituency 1, as Speaker and Deputy Speaker respectively, while Sanai Agunbiade, Ikorodu 1, is set to take office as the Majority Leader of the Assembly.
The PDP added that the appointment of the immediate past Commissioner for Environment, Tunji Bello as the Secretary to the State Government, SSG, was done to douse the tension in the Lagos Central area, which appears not to have benefited from the three principal offices, which are governor, deputy governor and Speaker.
The PDP has therefore tasked the APC to justify their slogan of ‘change’ by deviating from the old ways of stage-managing elections and particularly called on the leader of the APC, Bola Tinubu, to call other leaders of the party to order so as to allow for a free, fair selection of the Assembly leadership.
“We have it on good authority that some powerful leaders of the APC are lobbying and coercing the legislators to select a particular member as Speaker.
“We hear huge sums in foreign currencies are already being disbursed to achieve this task. This person has pledged to do the bidding of these leaders if selected,” Gani said.
He added that, “Lagosians are tired of rubber-stamp Assembly as witnessed in the last 16 years and particularly the out-going Seventh Assembly headed by Adeyemi Ikuforiji, who was allegedly imposed on the Assembly by the leaders of the party.”
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