Christian Group Accuses Lagos Assembly Of Rejecting Commissioner Nominees On ‘Religious Grounds’

CRN has accused the Lagos State House of Assembly of rejecting commissioner nominees on religious grounds.

The Lagos legislature declined to ratify 17 of the 39 commissioner nominations submitted by the state’s governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Wednesday.

Six former commissioners from Sanwo-Olu’s first term are among the 17 nominations that were not approved by the legislature.

Gbenga Omotoso (information and strategy), Akin Abayomi (health), Cecilia Dada (women affairs and poverty alleviation), Olalere Odusote (energy resources), Folashade Adefisayo (education), and Sam Egube (economic planning and budget) are the former commissioners.

CRN’s national chairman, Eliashib James, said in a statement on Thursday that the rejection of the nominees was an attempt to “stoke religious tensions” in the state.

The group alleged that the Lagos assembly’s decision was prompted by the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) criticism of the nomination of commissioner nominees.

According to the group, Muslims dominate governmental leadership posts, and “Christians never raised an eyebrow.”

“We have watched in utter amazement the unfolding drama at the Lagos state
house of assembly where surreptitious moves are being made by the House
leadership to stoke religious tension in Lagos state,” the statement reads.

“Egged on by a right-wing extremist religious group known as Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) of one prof.
Ishaq Akintola, the House of Assembly has manifested this by its rejection of a number of commissioner nominees in the state.

“We state without any equivocation that this is pure religious blackmail as contrary to the propaganda of MURIC, which the house of assembly latched on, there are more Muslims in the government of Lagos than Christians.

“So why is the Lagos state house of assembly stoking religious tension by rejecting many Commissioner nominees on religious grounds, deceptively couched for the public as insufficient documentation?”