Assembly grills Head of Service over illegal nominee appointments

The simmering tension between the legislative and executive arms of the Lagos State government boiled over on Tuesday as the Head of Service (HoS), Mr. Bode Agoro, faced a sharp and aggressive interrogation from the Lagos State House of Assembly over the repeated issuance of appointment letters to Governor’s nominees without legislative approval.

Lawmakers accused the HoS’s office of a continuous pattern of contravening extant laws and the House’s directives by allowing unconfirmed nominees to assume roles and, allegedly, gain access to public funds.

The core conflict is the HoS’s office issuing letters that lawmakers claim grant these individuals, including the General Managers of the Parks Authority, Lagos State Drivers Institute, and Lagos Waterways Authority, as well as the Executive Secretary of the Jakande Centre access to roles and resources before they are legally confirmed by the House.

The heated session saw members press Mr. Agoro on the practical implications of his office’s actions. Tension particularly escalated when a lawmaker questioned the source of funding for these unconfirmed individuals.

“When asked how they get funds, and who pays their salary when you said you are not aware, you only gave a letter,” a member pressed.

The HoS clarified that salary payments are handled at the Ministry level, with oversight provided by the Accounting Officer and the Commissioner of each Ministry, Department and Agency (MDA). 

Amid the grilling, the HoS offered an apology to the House, but it was swiftly dismissed by Speaker Mudashiru Obasa. The Speaker pointed out that the alleged contravention was not an isolated incident.

“What have you done?” Speaker Obasa demanded. “There is no way you want to say it is an omission after the same thing was done more than two times. You may claim you are not in the office, but it happens in your office. Did they have the legal right? They did it first, second, and third times.”

Richard Kasumu then pressed the HoS directly on accountability: “Who takes responsibility for the omission?”
The HoS reiterated that the letters were not issued deliberately and insisted his office has a history of sending necessary confirmation requests to the house.

As the session drew to a close, Speaker Obasa demanded a concrete solution from Mr. Agoro, stating, “You send letters three times and the law has been violated, what do we do?”

Pleading for a path forward, the HoS stated: “The best way is to look for a way forward, as nobody wishes to infringe upon the law. We will ask them to stop going to the office and appear before the House.”

Speaker Obasa concluded the session with a scathing criticism of the HoS’s performance, labelling the entire matter a failure of the HoS to fulfil his job. The Speaker ultimately told Mr. Agoro that he has not done well, especially since the non-deliberate contravention has now occurred three separate times.