Lagos Assembly clarifies suspension, 4 of 7 Councillors deny Vice Chairman’s suspension
There was tension at the Alimosho Local Government Area secretariat as the council’s suspended Chairman and his Vice Chairman, Hon Jelili Sulaimon and Hon Akinpelu Johnson, Tuesday, clashed over the control of the office.
The Lagos State House of Assembly, on Monday, suspended Sulaimon from office following alleged misconduct.
The lawmakers further instructed the Manager and Treasurer of the council to recognise the Vice Chairman and accord him all the support to make him work effectively.
But the embattled LG chairman, on Tuesday, defied the suspension order by the Lagos State House of Assembly.
The Vice Chairman had received an appointment letter to take over from the embattled council boss.
The council boss in a video was seen resuming at the council secretariat in Alimosho and being welcomed by a crowd in a show of solidarity.
According to a source, Suleiman and Johnson could not have access to the office of the chairman as it was locked.
4 out of 7 councillors deny VC’s suspension
Meanwhile, four out of the seven councillors in the council have denounced the purported suspension of Johnson by their three colleagues.
The Councillors, in a statement by the Deputy Leader, Mojisola Ayeni (Ward D), Saheed Adejoke (Ward C), Rasheed Semiu (Ward E) and Elizabeth Fashina (Ward F), commended the House of Assembly for intervening, while urging stakeholders in the council to go about their activities.
The statement, titled ‘Illegal Suspension of Akinpelu Ibrahim Johnson, Vice Chairman Alimosho Local Government,’ reads in part: “We, the undersigned legislators from Alimosho Local Government, officially dissociate ourselves from the staged managed and illegal suspension of Mr Akinpelu Johnson, the Vice Chairman of Alimosho Local Government.
“We condemn the purported suspension of the Vice Chairman by minority legislators, who acted on instructions of the validly suspended Chairman.
“We would like to emphasize that at no time was the Vice Chairman suspended hence our readiness to support him going forward with the administration of the Local Government.”
Facts behind suspension of Alimosho Local Government Chairman
The suspension of the Chairman of Alimosho Local Government, Jelili Sulaimon, by the Lagos State House of Assembly may not be unconnected with the disciplinary action he took against a Supervisory Councillor some months ago and his failure to reinstate the Revenue Consultant of the Iyana-Ipaja Market.
According to an online news website WESTERN POST, the embattled Chairman had been having a running battle with the House for almost 10 months over his suspension of a Supervisory Council who is believed to be loyal to the leadership of the Assembly instead of the Council.
There is also the matter of the replacement of the Iyana Ipaja Market Revenue Collection Consultant whose position had become contentious.
It was gathered that the suspension of the Supervisory Councilor by the Chairman did not go down well with the House following which it directed the Sulaimon to reinstate the supervisor.
The Chairman did not heed the directive. The last straw, however, is the failure of the Chairman to reinstate the market revenue collection consultant.
A source said the leadership of the House saw this as an affront and decided to move against him.
Another source, who is a staff of the local government but who pleaded that his name should not mentioned, explained that the Chairman could not reinstate the revenue consultant because the stakeholders in Alimosho Community had emphatically rejected his reinstatement, warning the Chairman not to re-appoint him.
The House, particularly Speaker Mudasiru Obasa, would not have any of that. He eventually led the House to suspend Sulaimon for alleged insubordination.
