Tope Balogun Opposes the “Alleged Lopsidedness” in Lagos Commissioner Nominees

AbdurRazaq Tope Balogun who is the Lagos gubernatorial candidate during 2023 general election gave a reflection on “alleged lopsidedness” in the list of commissioners released by Babajide Sanwo-Olu

Recall that the Lagos governor Sanwo-Olu had submitted list of individuals to be appointed as state commissioners. The list which has stirred reactions from different quarters.

The reactions which is based on lopsidedness as affecting due representation of interest groups. Tope Balogun, in an interview however addressed the issue which has been a subject of concerns.

In his statement “Like you rightly put it, “alleged lopsidedness” of appointments that had no straight rules and methods known for doing so. It is an open opportunity under the perogative of the State Governor that can’t be submerged as it will constitute a tacit hijack of his rights to chose who he is comfortable to work with in achieving his planned Agenda.”

“As for me, I believe strongly that it is the constitutional right of the Governor to appoint those that will represent him in various ministries as members of his executive cabinet.”

‘The constitution asks him to consider varying variables while making the appointments to represent diversed interest which cannot be exhaustive because of the nature of Lagos being cosmopolitan depicting the herculean task of adequate representatives across boards.”

“Hence, what I see him do is appoint people from various Local Governments using a criteria which is not made public to the best of my knowledge but definitely premised on some factors.”

“Those he appointed were allies of various political interests in Lagos state under the ruling party and those presented are expected to be hands that can make the Governor perform optimally in all circumstances.”

“The mistrust on getting justice has been a major reason some kind of considerations are put forward else what has the religion, gender, colour, tribe and outlook of a public officer got to do with implementation of good governance as well as giving back to the society the dividends of democracy.”

“There are so many interest groups in Lagos state that are not well captured in the present list of those selected by the Governor and if all of them had to come out to keep lamenting, we will be having an endless vicious circle debarring the progress of this State.”

“You can only call something lopsided if ab initio the criteria to choosing cabinet members are close ended and not open ended like we have.”

“If the Governor has the sole Authority to pick from a large pool of interest group, then the political philosophy of lobbying should be the order of the day and not mortification of the person occupying the most prestigious seat of Lagos State.”

‘I have read, listened and viewed various outbursts after the release of the list and I have asked if there is any treacherous situation where an agreement is deliberately breached but what I see is a vague commitment which is yet to be foreclosed since opportunity for more appointments abound in various categories.”

Tope Balogun also lay emphasis on set of Lagos Muslims who claimed to have large input towards 2nd term re-election of Babajide Sanwo-Olu as governor of Lagos state.

“As it appears to me presently, some part of Muslims in Lagos who committed to vote for the Governor has zero nominee and their agitations on the list about numbers of Muslims generally is reactionary because those few Muslims got into the list through their Local Government Leaders whom are Muslims as well as non Muslims and can’t even be vouched for by any of the front runners among those agitators.”

“The Governor can decide to have a change of cabinet at any point which may include some tribes and religions that are totally not even on the list this time around among other criteria that he thinks will work best for the state.”

“Religious bodies should get closer to the Governor as appropriate of their status, support him with prayers and give him more counsel on how best to approach issues for the general interest of humanities.”

“No matter the number of times the list get edited and presented, the lopsidedness toga will be a recurring decimal.”