Lagos: Absence of cabinet not affecting governance | Sanwo-Olu has more days to appoint commissioners

The Lagos state government says the “wheel of governance is moving progressively” despite the absence of an executive council.

In a statement on Thursday, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), said Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos, was running on “auto-pilot” without an executive council.

“Presently, Lagos state is operating without an executive council in place. The house of assembly has since been inaugurated and its officers duly elected,” the statement reads.

“Money is being spent daily without commissioners and without an executive council duly constituted.

“A state as cosmopolitan and complex as Lagos deserves a functional cabinet, for the certainty of administration and predictability of policies.”

Responding, Gboyega Akosile, chief press secretary to Sanwo-Olu,  said the state has not broken any law by not yet having a cabinet in place.

He said the constitution allows for 60 days after oath-taking, noting that the governor has only spent 39 days in office.

Akosile added that governance in the state is moving progressively even without the cabinet members.

“Our attention has been drawn to an unsolicited counsel from Mr Ebun Adegboruwa, alleging that the Lagos state governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu is running a one-man show, simply because he has not constituted his cabinet yet since he resumed office for the second term,” the chief press secretary said in a statement on Friday.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the Nigerian constitution is very clear about the number of days required for a state governor to send his nominees for various cabinet offices to the state house of assembly for legislative approval.

“According to the fifth alteration (No. 23), the bill seeks to alter the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria, 1999 to require the president and governors to submit the names of persons nominated as ministers or commissioners within 60 days of taking the oath of office for confirmation by the senate or state houses of assembly; and for related matters.

“Governor Sanwo-Olu has only spent 39 days in the office and therefore, has not flouted any law.

“Secondly, we must remind Mr Adegboruwa, that Lagos remains a model state, where governance issues are taken very seriously and as such, his comparison of the state with other states he used in his submission is laughable.

“We also need to remind the erudite lawyer that Osun state governor, Mr Ademola Adeleke was sworn into the office in November 2022, making it more than seven months before he sent his cabinet nominees to the Osun state house of assembly.

“We must also enlighten Mr Adegboruwa, that with or without the cabinet members at the moment, the wheel of governance is moving progressively in Lagos.

“The permanent secretaries are fully in charge as the chief accounting officers of their individual ministries and they are working tirelessly with governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, in conjunction with the deputy governor, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, secretary to the state government, the chief of staff and deputy chief of staff to the governor as well as the head of the service, to achieve the administration’s vision of a greater Lagos rising anchored on the THEMES+ agenda.”