· As traditional rulers, political leaders reject bill
· Tinubu urges assembly to step down proposal
Gboyega Akinsanmi
A privately initiated bill, which seeks to repeal the 1972 Administrative Divisions Law of Lagos State, has stoked dissension among members of the State House of Assembly, pitching them against the Speaker, Mr Mudashiru Obasa.
Similarly, political leaders, traditional rulers and eminent indigenes across the state have disapproved the bill, which under its schedule seeks to classify Alimosho as part of Badagry Division; Kosofe and Somolu as part of Ikeja Division and Eti-Osa and Lekki as part of Epe Division.
Multiple sources, who anonymously spoke with THISDAY on Friday, expressed grave concern about the new bill, lamenting that the proposal would disrupt the state’s administrative structures that the state had been using for 49 years.
The bill, which was allegedly sponsored by the speaker, had sought to amend the Administrative Divisions (Establishment) No. 7 of 1972 with the aim of delimiting the five administrative divisions in the state.
Section 1(1-2), the bill read in part: “Without prejudice to the Local Government Administration Law, 2015, Lagos State is divided into five administrative divisions listed under Schedule I. Each administrative division shall be made up of the components of areas listed in the schedule…”
Under its schedule, the bill proposed that Ikeja Division “shall now comprise Agege, Ikeja, Ifako-Ijaiye, Mushin and Oshodi; Badagry Division – Alimosho, Ojo, Amuwo, Badagry and Ajeromi-Ifelodun, Ikorodu Division – Kosofe, Somolu and Ikorodu; Lagos Division – Lagos Island, Yaba, Apapa and Surulere as well as Epe Division – Epe, Eti-Osa and Ibeju-Lekki.”
But the delineation of areas under the five administrative divisions under the new bill contravened the provisions of the Administrative Divisions [Establishment] Edict No. 3 of April 1968 that originally created Ikeja, Badagry, Ikorodu, Lagos [EKO] and Epe (IBILE) after due consultation.
Consistent with the 1968 law, Ikeja, majorly an enclave of Awori people, encompasses Agege, Ifako-Ijaiye, Kosofe, Mushin, Alimosho, Oshodi-Isolo, Somolu and Ikeja. Badagry, a zone of culture mix between Awori and Ogu, comprises Ojo, Amuwo-Odofin, Ajeromi-Ifelodun, and Badagry.
Similarly, Ikorodu, a traditional territory of Ijebu people in Lagos, consists of Igbogbo-Baiyeku, Imota and Ijede. Lagos [Eko], the heart of Lagos State, comprises Lagos Island, Lagos Mainland, Surulere, Apapa and Eti-Osa. Epe embodies Epe, Ibeju-Lekki, Lekki, Ikosi-Ejirin and Eredo.
A source in the assembly, who privately spoke with THISDAY on the rationale behind the bill on Friday, claimed that the speaker of the assembly sponsored the bill, though he had denied any involvement on different occasions.
He explained that a bill could either be “a private member bill or an executive bill. If it is an executive bill, we will have known. So, the Delineation of the Administrative Divisions of Lagos State Bill is a private member bill. And the speaker personally sponsored the bill for personal reasons.”
He explained that the bill was sponsored “to boost Obasa’s senatorial ambition in 2023. Under Lagos West, for instance, there are two administrative divisions – Ikeja and Badagry. Since 1999, Badagry Division has not produced any senator while Ikeja Division has produced three.
“Ikeja Division produced Senator Tokunbo Afikuyomi (1999-2007) and Senator Ganiyu Solomon (2007-2015). Senator Solomon Adeola Olamilekan, who has been in office since 2015, will complete his second term in 2023.
In 2023, according to him, Badagry Division should ordinarily produce the next senator that will represent Lagos West in the spirit of fairness. In Lagos East, for instance, senatorial office has been on a rotational basis between Epe and Ikorodu Divisions since 1999. That has not been the case in Lagos West.
However, another source, claimed that the speaker, who hails from Agege, an area under Ikeja Division, “has been working day and night to clinch senatorial nomination, a real reason he sponsored the Delineation of the Administrative Division Bill to boost his senatorial aspiration in 2023.”
The source alleged that the new bill proposed “to bring Alimosho under Badagry Division. With this arrangement, it will pave way for Obasa under a guise that Badagry has already produced a senator while Agege has not.
“The speaker sponsored the bill to actualise his senatorial aspiration at the expense of Badagry. Some lawmakers openly opposed the bill vehemently. We opposed it because the bill is very insensitive to the culture, commerce, history and people of Lagos State. As it is, the bill cannot stand.”
He, thus, explained political undercurrents that culminated in the suspension of the bill, a day before an ad hoc committee that Obasa constituted to midwife the process for the seamless passage of the controversial bill.
Amid palpable tension, the source disclosed that a stakeholders’ meeting on the bill was scheduled to hold on February 18 as part of the process that should be observed before the passage of any legislation.
But at a parliamentary meeting held on February 17, the source disclosed that Tobun Abiodun, the Chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee on the Bill, told members that the bill “has been stepped down indefinitely.
“We were not told the reasons for postponing the stakeholders’ meeting. We were not told the reasons the bill was stepped down. Aside, they only told members of the assembly that the bill was stepped down. But they have not told Lagos people about the suspension of the bill.”
On February 16, former Deputy Governors of Lagos State, Mrs Sara Sosan; her successor, Mrs Oluranti Adebule and APC leaders from Badagry Division rejected the bill at a stakeholders’ meeting held at the secretariat of Amuwo-Odofin Local Government Area.
In a communique signed by Prince Rabiu Oluwa after the meeting, the leaders of Badagry Division rejected the proposed re-delineation of the long existing and the historical structure of the divisions in Lagos State.
The communiqué, also, warned that Badagry division “is strongly opposed to the proposed merging of the present Badagry division with Alimosho Federal Constituency, which is presently in Ikeja Division.”
It added that the division directed all members of the State House of Assembly representing Badagry division “to convey our decision to the speaker of the House of Assembly and speak in this direction whenever the need arises.”
Apart from the leaders of Badagry Division, THISDAY checks revealed that Ojomu of Ajiranland, Oba Tijani Akinloye (Sateru II); Oniru of Iruland, Oba Gbolahan Lawal and Elegushi of Ikate-Elegushi Kingdom, Oba Saheed Elegushi (Kusenla III) have expressed strong opposition to the bill, which merge Eti-Osa and Lekki with Epe Division.
Supporting the traditional rulers that disapproved the bill, THISDAY learnt that several groups in Lagos Island are vehemently opposed to the movement of Eti-Osa to the Epe Division and have vowed to fight the bill .
Amid diverse controversies the proposed delineation bill had generated, a principal lawmaker told THISDAY that the National Leaders of All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu had advised the leadership of the house of assembly to put deliberation on the bill on hold.
