Lagos Assembly, executive at war over bills suspension

LAGOS—Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly,
Mr. Mudashiru Obasa has ordered the Clerk of the House,
Mr. Ganiyu Segun Abiru, to invite the Attorney General
and Commissioner for Justice of the state, Mr. Adeniji
Kazeem, for a meeting with the Principal Officers of the
House over the request for the House to suspend some
bills supposedly inherited from the previous Assemblies.
This followed a letter by  the
Commissioner directing the 8th Assembly to stop
legislative activities on outstanding Bills inherited from
previous assemblies.
In the letter, which was read on the floor of the House by
the Clerk, Mr. Ganiyu Abiru, the commissioner listed 15
Bills, which he said the House should suspend.
The Bills which include Lagos State Public Private
Partnership Amendment bill 2013, Lagos State Sunset
Agency bill 2013, Lagos State Police Regulatory Authority
bill 2014, Lagos State Public Works Corporation 2014,
Lagos State Examination Board bill 2014, Seal of Lagos
State Government Amendment bill 2014, Lagos State
Public Procurement Agency repeal and re-enactment bill
2014, Lagos State Environmental Management and
Protection bill 2014.
Others are, Lagos State Tourism Promotion Agency bill
2014, Ibile Holding Corporation bill 2014, Lagos State
Safety Commission swimming Pool Regulations 2014
Lagos State Water Infrastructure Development Fishery
Regulation Bill 2014 as well as Lagos State Waterways
Authority boat safety regulation 2014.
However, the House disagreed with the request thereby
calling for a meeting with the Attorney General.
However, the Majority Leader Mr. Sanai Agunbiade,
observed that if the the Attorney General was not new on
the job, he wouldn’t have called for the suspension of the
bills.
“We cannot stop work on the bills as requested by the
Attorney General. So I will suggest that we should continue
working on them,” he said.
In his contribution, Mr. Gbolahan Yishawu said the
executive could send any addition to the Bills rather than
calling for the suspension of works on them. Adding that
each arm of the government has its own responsibilities.
Also, Lanre Ogunyemi, said, that Ibile Oil and Gas is
already a law and that it shouldn’t have been part of the
bills suggested for suspension by the commissioner.
He, however, said that the Attorney General did not have
the power to ask the Assembly to suspend the bills, saying
that the fact that he had requested for the revival of the
bills made the latest request unnecessary.