The Governor’s Advisory Council has directed the leadership of the Lagos State House of Assembly to resolve its dispute with four aggrieved members of the House.
The directive came on Tuesday after a closed-door meeting with the Speaker, Mr Mudashiru Obasa, and the lawmakers by the18-member council.
Obasa and four lawmakers of the 40-member House had been at loggerheads since early March.
The meeting, held at the Lagos House, Marina, was led by the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
The GAC is considered the highest decision-making body of the APC in Lagos.
A source privy to discussions at the meeting, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Tinubu expressed dismay with the turn of events at the assembly.
The source said, “The meeting was frank and Tinubu expressed disappointment with the way things had turned out at the Assembly.
“After some of the GAC members spoke one after the other on the issue, the four lawmakers and the Speaker were excused to go into another room to discuss. They were joined by the state APC Chairman, Alhaji Tunde Balogun.”
The House on March 9, 2020, removed two principal officers, Rotimi Abiru (Chief Whip) and Olumuyiwa Jimoh (Deputy Majority Leader).
It also suspended two members, Moshood Oshun and Raheem Kazeem indefinitely from the assembly over what it termed gross misconduct, insubordination, and actions capable of destabilising the assembly.
On Saturday, the offices of Abiru and Jimoh were forced open and their belongings removed.
Obasa also disbanded a committee earlier inaugurated to resolve the crisis in the ninth Assembly.
Also, in a March 20 memo, the Speaker reconstituted the House Committees and named some of the embattled lawmakers as chairmen of committees.
They included Abiru (Chairman, Inter-Parliamentary Committee); Oshun Olanrewaju (Legislative Compliance); Jimoh (Central Business District); and Olatunji Oluwa (Tourism, Arts and Culture), among other lawmakers.
The source named some attendees at the meeting to include the state governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, ex-Speaker of the state assembly, Mr Adeyemi Ikuforiji, former deputy governor, Dr Oluranti Adebule, Senator Anthony Adefuye, Cardinal James Odunmbaku and Chief Lanre Rasaq among others.
Speaking on the meeting, the state party chairman told our correspondent that the Lagos APC had a formidable conflict resolution mechanism to resolve any internal disagreements among its members.
He said, “ The GAC as the highest decision-making body in the state APC has met the lawmakers to find solutions to the crisis.”
Balogun added that it was vital for state party leaders to meet and find ways of resolving conflicts faced by members in any state arm of government.
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