Lagos Assembly suspends council chairman over disobedience

Holds public hearing on bill to amend state electoral commission’s law

Lagos State House of Assembly, yesterday, suspended indefinitely the Chairman of Alimosho Local Council, Jelili Sulaimon. The suspension is with immediate effect.

The House, which resolved at plenary that the vice chairman of the council, Akinpelu Johnson, should take over the running of the council’s affairs, further instructed the management of the council, including the manager and treasurer, to recognise the authority of the vice chairman and accord him all the support to make him work effectively.

Sulaimon was suspended in a unanimous vote by the lawmakers over an alleged non-compliance, defiance and unyielding attitude to the legislative House.

Chairman of the House Committee on Local Government Administration and Chieftaincy Affairs, Sanni Okanlawon, who moved the motion for the chairman’s suspension, recalled that in April 2024, pandemonium broke out in the Iyana-Ipaja axis of Alimosho Local Council leading to the death of one Michael Ajayi.

Okanlawon, whose committee was saddled with the responsibility to investigate the cause of the pandemonium, said that Jelili allegedly masterminded the chaos.

According to Okanlawon, all stakeholders involved in the issue were invited, but Jelili continued to show acts of misconduct to the committee of the House.

He said that the council chairman’s failure to adhere to the Assembly’s directives and his mismanagement of public funds necessitated his immediate suspension in line with relevant sections of the 1999 Constitution as amended.

The Speaker, Dr Mudashiru Obasa, who presided over the sitting, directed the Clerk of the House, Olalekan Onafeko, to communicate the Assembly’s resolution to all relevant authorities.

In another development, the Assembly, yesterday, held a public hearing on a bill to further amend the Lagos State Electoral Commission Law.

The bill, when amended, will strengthen the operations of the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) to conduct free, fair and credible elections at the local council level.

In his remarks, Obasa, who was represented by his deputy, Mojisola Lasbat Meranda, said that further amendment of the bill would reduce major clogs in the wheel of electioneering.

Also, the lawmaker representing Oshodi-Isolo Constituency II and Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights, Public Petitions and LASIEC, Oladipo Ajomale, said the further amendment of the bill is imperative to cater for some lacunas in the extant law.