Lagos Assembly suspends council chairman

Lagos Assembly has suspended the chairman of the Alimosho Local Government Area Jelili Sulaimon indefinitely with immediate effect.

Sitting at plenary, the lawmakers resolved the vice chairman of the council, Mr. Akinpelu Johnson, should take over the running of the council’s affairs.

The Assembly further instructed the management of the council, including the manager and treasurer, to recognise the authority of the vice chairman and accord him all the support to make him work effectively.

The chairman was suspended in a unanimous vote by the lawmakers over an alleged non-compliance, defiance and unyielding attitude to the legislative House.

Moving a motion for his suspension, the Chairman of the House Committee on Local Government Administration  and Chieftaincy Affairs, Hon. Sanni Okanlawon, recalled in April 2024, pandemonium broke out in the Iyana-Ipaja axis of Alimosho Local Government leading to the death of one Mr. Micheal Ajayi.

Hon. Okanlawon, whose committee was saddled with the responsibility to investigate the cause of the pandemonium, said that it was discovered that Jelili masterminded the chaos.

According to Okanlawon, all stakeholders involved in the issue were invited but Sulaimon had continued to show acts of misconduct to the committee of the House.

He faulted the council chairman’s failure to adhere to the Assembly’s directives and his mismanagement of public funds. He called for Jelili’s immediate suspension in line with relevant sections of the 1999 Constitution as amended.

“He should be suspended immediately while the vice chairman, Akin Johnson, takes over with immediate effect,” he prayed.

Majority Leader of the House, Noheem Adams, while supporting the call for the suspension, added that the action would make other local government chairmen sit well.

“The Alimosho council chairman does not follow procurement processes or the budget. There has been a lot of misconducts from him and I support that the chairman be suspended indefinitely,” he said.

In his contribution Hon. Nureni Akinsanya, Chairman of the House Committee on Public Accounts for Local Government, referred to the report submitted by the Auditor-General concerning the activities of Sulaimon. The report underscored the council chairman’s consistent non-compliance with financial regulations, with significant irregularities in his records.

Akinsanya, emphasising these discrepancies, suported Okanlawon’s call for the suspension.

Speaker Mudashiru Obasa, who presided over the sitting, directed the Clerk of the House, Barr. Olalekan Onafeko, to communicate the Assembly’s resolution to all relevant authorities