Ahead of the screening of the sixteen Kwara commissioner-nominees by
the Kwara State House of Assembly scheduled for tomorrow (Tuesday)
HEAD POLITICS, MUMINI ABDULKAREEM writes on why the exercise must not
be made a jamboree at the floor of the House.
Come Tuesday 28, 2019, the screening of the sixteen Kwara
commissioner-nominees by the Kwara State House of Assembly scheduled
for Tuesday (tomorrow) will take the centre stage amidst concerns and
expectations from the populace about their composition.
The cabinet which comprised unprecedented number of women, nine
altogether which is historic in the state, and quite a number of
youths, have become the subject of discussion among many political
observers and party men and women across the political parties in the
state.
Already the governor’s move, as highly debated as it seem, has
expectedly attracted some favourably comments from many women groups
within and outside the state.
On Sunday, according to a statement circulated by the Chief Press
Sectary, Rafiu Ajakaye, 169 women groups have rallied round the State
Governor for nominating nine women, which is 56.25% of his cabinet.
The statement noted that “This came barely 72 hours after dozens of
women associations held a news briefing in the Nigerian capital Abuja
to congratulate the Governor for the gesture.
“Also, in a personal letter addressed to the Governor at the weekend,
a London-based development advocate and First Class Graduate of
Economics, Taibat Hussain Aduragba hailed AbdulRazaq for making Kwara
the first in practical commitment to inclusion of women in decision
making process in the country.
“The More Women Group, an amalgam of at least 169 women bodies across
Nigeria, lauded the governor for breaking the yoke of poor
representation of women and youths in governance in Nigeria”.
“A statement signed by Dr Abiola Akiyode Afolabi and Ms Felicia Onibon
on behalf of the amalgam said this gesture will be recorded in history
as the first of its kind in Nigeria….The appointment demonstrates his
support for women voices and serves as a recognition of their
relevance in the society”, adding that “modelling a best practice of
this nature is important for the achievement of the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDG)”.
Aduragba, on her part, said AbdulRazaq’s action was a jinx-breaker in
the history of the North Central State and lauded the Governor for
rectifying “the imbalance generated during the general elections where
men occupied all elective positions in the state and that the
nominations gives fillip to Goal 5 (empowering women and girls) of the
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Kwara State.
For the action, the governor has also received some knocks from
stakeholders in the state. According to the opposition Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP), the Governors should have looked inward and
appoint those who worked for the success of the party during the
gubernatorial election in the state.
Speaking on the list of commissioner-nominees forwarded to the State
House of Assembly by the Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, the State
PDP Women Leader, the PDP State Woman Leader, Hajia Ramat Oganija
added to the raging debate in the APC about the appropriateness or
otherwise of the incoming cabinet.
“We urged the Governor to look inward and elect those who struggled
for the party during the election that are ready to add value to the
government’s programmes and policies”, she added.
Many observers who believe that the job at hand requires more than
selecting just women and youth all in the name of balancing a gender
quota or satisfying a segment of the party. Some have also argued that
except for one or two appointments, the list contained no spectacular
performance of the nominees in their previous place of engagement and
brought to the fore, the question of why a Youth Corper will be
preferred over people believed to be more competent and experienced
nominees forwarded to the governor by some stakeholders who are party
men to the core and can further add value to governance and policies
of the government.
So based on the comments the issue has generated, expectations are
high in the polity on appraising what the nominees have to offer from
another prism different from what the government has released about
the profiles and this is where the House of Assembly must do the
needful by scrutinising the competence or of those on the list. Hence,
it must not be the usual “bow and go” that has come to be associated
with such exercise even at the National Assembly.
While some have expressed concerns about the issue especially because
the executive and legislature are branches of the same APC family, the
screening coming up tomorrow will be a very important point on how the
lawmakers want to approach the issue whether to grill the nominees for
the interest of the state and concerned stakeholders or carry out a
‘paddy paddy’ exercise.
Already, there are talks that there might be plan by the governor to
come out with such nominees list to further his alleged interest in
the politics of 2023. The alleged plot is that some other powerful
appointees will be later appointed as SAs and SSAs who will be the
brain behind the Governor’s critical decision and policies and thus
limiting the commissioners to just “office goers and Salary payers”
according to a source. But while that is yet to be achieved, the ball
falls on the legislature.
Speaking on the issue recently at a plenary at the floor of the House,
the speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly, Hon Danladi
Yakubu-Salihu noted that the screening which has not being scheduled
for Tuesday will not be a pat in the back when the nominee appears
before the legislature, adding that the lawmakers had foreclosed any
possibility of “bow and go”.
While reading one of the Governors letters which some of the lawmakers
had began to eulogise, it was Hon Owolabi Olatunde Razaq of Oke-Ode
constituency that first rejected such eulogy and insisted that any
nominee who falls short of expectation during their appearance may be
screened out.
According to the Speaker, the House will conduct a thorough screening
for the nominees devoid of the “bow and go” that is usually the case
in other places, adding that those nominated are expected to bring
their wealth of experience to bear if confirmed.
As Tuesday approaches, all attention will be shifted to the plenary of
at the House of Assembly and whether the much awaited exercise is
going to be a jamboree or rather a screening process that will guide
the Governor in putting right peg in the right hole during the
allocation of portfolios for those he appointed. So, will it be
fireworks at the plenary come Tuesday or an atmosphere of camaraderie.
The ball is in the court of the lawmakers and how they want to hit it
will go a long way to add value to the system.
