The year 2018 for the 8th Kwara State legislature was adjudged a reference point in the annals of legislative business in the state. From interventions like that of the decision for the government to reverse the increment in the tuition fee of Kwara state Polytechnic to the amendment of the state pension laws for ex-governors and their deputies down to the historic passage of the 2019 budget in 2018 to regularise the financial calendar of the state from January to December, the House scored many firsts and even attracted praises from the opposition.
However, the impact of the legislature could not be separated from the expertise, vibrant and sound debates as well as insightful contributions from some of the members made their mark in the art of legislative business in the state. In this report, National Pilot beams the searchlight on ten of the most outstanding lawmakers that made the House tick in 2018.
Ali Ahmad (Ilorin South): Ali Ahmad as the Speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly, coming straight from the National Assembly, was able to combine experience and expertise at a higher level to command the respect and cooperation of members has made the 8th legislature in the state one of the most vibrant but yet peaceful in the country. To this end, there were far reaching bills and motions passed by the House during the period under review that strongly impacted governance in the state. Under his leadership, members started and completed private bills hitherto seen as a tall order. Also, the legislature was able to carry every stakeholder in the Kwara Project along, irrespective of political parties and even attracted commendation from the opposition last year. As a people oriented assembly, Ali Ahmad pioneered the construction of a state-of-the-art standalone building for Public Hearings to create the necessary atmosphere for the people to participate and contribute to issues that shaped the governance of the state. Ali Ahmad further led the House to pass bills and motions that have fundamentally reshaped the community like the bill to curb the menace of exhumation of corpses for rituals, the re-demarcation of areas of liquor sales in Ilorin metropolis, among others. As the Speaker, Ali Ahmad, it was gathered, initiated many private bills which he gave some members to work on for passage to complement the ones from the government.
Kamal Oyekunle Fagbemi (Oke-Ogun): As a ranking lawmaker from Oyun who is spending his final term in the House because of the zoning policy from his constituency, Kamal Oyeunkunle Fagbemi will be missed for his brilliance and thought provoking contributions at the floor of the House when the curtains draws on the 8th Assembly come next June. As the chairman House Committee on Ethics, Judiciary and Privileges, Fagbemi was described by colleagues as the ‘lawyer’ of the House and was always on ground to direct his colleague on matters of the law on debates, motions and bills. The lawmaker has made himself so relevant during plenary that any debate at the floor of the House without his contribution was considered incomplete last year. He sponsored the motion on the need for full autonomy for Kwara State Judiciary and the need for all state broadcast stations to comply with the Nigeria Broadcasting Commission (NBC) code on political broadcast and co sponsored the bill to check the indiscriminate proliferation of petrol stations in Ilorin metropolis. From 2015 to date, Fagbemi has sponsored four and co-sponsored eleven motions and led the debate on two executive bills with over fifteen motions on matter of general public importance/urgent public importance raised.
Ibn Muhammed (Kaiama/Wajibe/Kemanji): Despite being a first time lawmaker, Ahmed Ibn Muhammed has every reason to be proud of his achievements and contributions to the lawmaking business in the state last year. Muhammed with few other ‘new comers’ relegated many other ranking members to the background with their organisation and effectiveness in legislative assignments and debates at the floor of the House. At the last count, Muhammed has personally sponsored a whopping 19 motions, co-sponsored 26 and raised two matters of urgent public importance at the floor of the House which have all positively impacted on the state and the citizens. As the chairman, House Committee on Health, he represented the state in many international health forums within and outside Africa in places like Kenya and Japan and sponsored bills on Kwara State Health Insurance Agency and Kwara State Health Insurance Scheme Bill, 2016 that have had far reaching effect on healthcare assessment by the citizens. Some of his motions include the bill to redress the short-changing of Kwara candidates for recruitment exercise into Nigerian Army, farming as sustainable economic alternative for local government councils in Kwara State and urgent deployment of teachers to primary schools in Kaiama local government among others.
Matthew Babaoye (Irepodun): Matthew Babaoye is the chairman, House Committee on Energy, Works and Transport and was the lawmaker that rose to the occasion when Dangote Trucks constituted danger on Ilorin Highway with indiscriminate packing with a motion that directed the House to pass the law to address that hazard. To Babaoye’s credit, many of the resolutions of the legislature contained his inputs and suggestions which many of the members, including the Speaker positively acknowledged. In the last three sessions, the lawmaker was identified as a lawmaker with quality and sound grasp of issues during plenary and has been very effective and timely in reports writing and submission. Babaoye sponsored over 6 motions and co-sponsored several others that have defined his representation with the people of his constituency and the state. Some of his motions include that on the plight of staff of Kwara State College of Education, Oro and the need to appraise the statutory functions of the Kwara State Internal Revenue Service (KWIRS). He co-sponsored the motion to curb the activities of illegal miners in Kwara State and preventing boundary dispute between Offa and Erin-Ile communities among others.
Hassan Oyeleke: If there is one lawmaker in the House whose incisive analysis and quality debate will be missed at the floor of the House when the 9th legislature in the state is convened, Hassan Oyeleke proudly stands tall in that narrative. As the House Leader, he convinced even his critics of his capability and shrewdness as a fitting peg in that position with his informed approached to legislative assignments and debates. There is hardly any issue that Oyeleke failed to provide very solid contribution on and his colleagues noted this is understandable. He remained one of the most experienced lawmakers in the House after spending over 27 years in opposition and gathered valuable experience having passed through various phases of governance before his stint at the House of Assembly. Today, Oyeleke flaunts three masters in management, business administration and public administration. He is also one of the lawmakers who attended the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) training which came handy in the scrutiny and appraisal of the state budget passed last year. As a second term honourable member and despite the scarcity of fund, he has facilitated, along side Saheed Popoola, the tarring of the much talked about Anilelerin and Alubata roads in Offa among several other interventions and motions that has impacted the people positively. He is the chairman, House Committee on Rules and regarded by colleagues the ‘Ita Ehang’ of the Kwara State House of Assembly. As the House Leader, all the statutory motions must come before him and he personally moved the motion on Anti-cultism and Prohibition of Selling of Human Part, the robbery incident in Offa and the burnt Owode market including the rehabilitation of the Oyun water works among others.
Segilola AbdulKadir (Ilorin Central): Segilola AbdulKadir carried on from where she stopped during her first term as a lawmaker of relevance and importance with meaningful and insightful contributions to the debates on the floor of the House last year. As one of the principal officers in her position as the Deputy House Leader and chairman House Committee on Local Content Law, AbdulKadir did not leave anyone in doubt as a worthy deputy to Oyeleke; at times leading the debates on topical and vital issues of relevance that concerned her constituency and the state in general. Till date, she has about five motions and two executive bills to her credit including raising motions on notice for vital interventions aimed at improving the lives of the people. Some of her motions include Prohibition of manufacture, sale and consumption of liquor and intoxicants, female genital mutilation, conversion of residential buildings to hotels, club houses and beer parlors tagged KWHA4 and prohibition of sales of alcohol and other intoxicants in motor parks in Kwara state among others.
AbdurRahman Jimoh Akani (Share/Oke-Ode): Representing Share/Oke-Ode of Ifelodun state constituency, AbdurRahman Jimoh Akani brought his experience in previous positions of government to his lawmaking assignment last year. From his initial position as the chairman of the House Committee on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, the Speaker, Dr Ali Ahmad later moved him to head the House Committee on Education when the challenges in that sector in the state became a recurring decimal. Akani swung into action and within few weeks of his leadership, relevant stakeholders from the executives where summoned in the quest to find lasting solution to the issues bedevilling the sector. To his credit, vital motions like that of the clearance of about fourteen months salaries for teachers of tertiary institutions, release of fund for the accreditation of courses at the School of midwifery, Ilorin, the motion to slash Kwara State Polytechnic tuition fee, on illegal mining in Kwara state and a motion to link the road from Oro-Ago to Oreke for easy access to the marble rich site to generate revenue for the state government emanated from him among various others.
Moshood Bakare (Omupo): According to one of his colleagues, Moshood Bakare as chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation, occupies a very important positions and he did not disappoint. Through his active and vibrant, ‘the House spotted allege loopholes in the budget and subsequently returned it for fine tuning. Bakare was ‘able to put the executive and the Ministry of Planning on their toes always’ that rubbed off on Kwara State as one of the leading states that championed the regularisation of the January-December calendar for the fiscal plan. Much of that credit will go to Bakare in the legislature for having the eagl’s eye to detect faults in the tedious appraisal of the budget document. His contributions and observations during plenary went a long way to properly shape the decision of the House on major issues. He was the prime mover of the motion on the amendment of the retirement benefits for former governors and deputy governors which was widely acclaimed across the country with its attendant effect on the overall finances of the state last year.
Abdullahi Taiwo AbdulRasheed (Asa): He represents Owode/Onire constituency of Asa local government in the Kwara State House of Assembly and is the chairman of the House Committee on Public Accounts. A Charted Accountant by profession, AbdulRasheed Taiwo Abdullahi finds himself in a field that is key to getting the right figures for most issues that emanated from the House or was brought by the executive. Apart from the committee which he chairs, there was hardly any committee of the House that AbdulRasheed was not a member because of his top-notch knowledge of finance and figures in the out gone year. Some of them include the committee on Ethnic, Privileges and Judiciary, that of commerce and solid minerals and member of the Ad-Hoc committee on the reduction of Kwara Polytechnic tuition fees. His motions include rehabilitation of the Ilorin cargo terminal and adequate funding of state offices and their departments. He also co-sponsored the motion on curbing the arbitrary billing system and sharp practices by IBEDC, improving revenue of state councils and the need for full autonomy of the judiciary.
AbdulRafiu AbdurRahman (Ilorin North-West): AbdulRafiu AbdurRahman came into the House as a first timer but his prowess and quality contribution belied his greenhorn status. Addressed with the nickname ‘Leader’, the lawmaker led in many of his proactive motions and very sound debates on the floor of the House that stood him out among his peers. From the motion of the checking of indiscriminate proliferation of Petrol stations in Ilorin metropolis to the harassment of the citizens by SARS police officers, to that on Harmony Holdings which ruffled many feathers in the state, the lawmaker made his mark in the art of legislating in Kwara state last year. As a member of various other Ad-Hoc committees, AbdurRahman co-sponsored several other bills that had great impact on his community and the state, including the motion to curb strip dancing by females in Kwara state hotels and the motion of proliferation of hotels and guest houses in Ilorin metropolis among several others.
