As the controversy of non-appointment of commissioners in Osun State almost 10 months since Rauf Argbesola became governor, former Lagos State governor, Bola Tinubu has argued that Aregbesola needed enough time to select his team.
Speaking at the presidential wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos at the weekend, Tinubu said the Osun State governor could not have appointed commissioners after the court declared him (Aregbesola) winner of the 2007 gubernatorial election since he inherited a Peoples’ Democratic Development (PDP)-dominated legislature.
“It is only after the April 2011 election that he had a house. The constitution says ‘appoint’ and does not say when and you have to have a house to clear the nominees appointed. What is the noise all about? Is the state government not functioning? I don’t think some people are busy,” he stated.
He argued that even without commissioners, Aregbesola had achieved a lot by working with the permanent secretaries.
“He has created 20, 000 jobs; the delay has translated into service delivery. The bureaucracy is there; there are permanent secretaries who are competent to run the ministries. They are the eggheads and technocrats of the ministries. As long as government is running properly, there should be no problem,” he said.
On the flood that ravaged Lagos recently, Tinubu stated that the said the state should be given a special federal attention because of its strategic position.
“There is need for the federal government to pay a special attention to Lagos State. It is because we are not behaving like a civilized part of the world. Lagos is entitled to a special attention. This is the economic heartbeat of this country; this is the political barometer of the country. When you change capital, you should even have severance compensation for the change. You cannot abandon the infrastructure. It didn’t happen in Germany when they moved to Berlin,” declared Tinubu.
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