Commissionership: Anxiety mounts in Osun

Controversy has trailed the non-appointment of commissioners by Osun State Governor, Mr Rauf Aregbesola, seven months after his inauguration. TUNDE ODESOLA analyses the issue Of what good are apples to a dead man? asked good Old Roger, who got up from the dead and gave an old woman picking the ripe apples planted over his grave a knock! Apples are dear to Old Roger. However, the task of positioning Osun State for greatness is dearer to the state Peoples Democratic Party. The party has repeatedly said it would always seek the development and progress of the state. This task, the opposition party said, would be done through constructive criticism.

From the foregoing, Osun PDP’s criticism of the Rauf Aregbesola administration over the non-appointment of commissioners since November 26, 2010 when the governor was inaugurated has been justified by some politicians. The PDP said that it was wrong of the governor not to appoint commissioners – seven months into his four-year tenure. Acting Chairman of the party, Chief Sunday Ojo-Williams, maintained that the non-appointment of commissioners had slowed down development and economic activities of the state. He also accused the Aregbesola administration of reserving juicy ministries for Lagos politicians, adding that the resources of the 20-year-old state were being frittered on Lagos-based consultants working for the state government.

In a statement by the Director of Publicity, Osun PDP, Mr. Adeolu Adeyemo, Ojo-Williams explained that Aregbesola was running the state like a sole administrator even as he maintained that as governor, Aregbesola needed to work in concert with commissioners and other aides in order to engender development for Osun. Deriding the ACN, Ojo-Williams, said the delay in cabinet formation by Aregbesola demanded divine intervention. The PDP stalwart, who said that the ACN appeared to be confused over the cabinet, suggested the names of some ACN members for appointment into Aregbesola’s cabinet, just as he requested the citizenry to pray for Aregbesola in order for him to name his cabinet. The ACN was, however, quick to dismiss the suggestion as stupid and a product of lazy minds.

The non-appointment of commissioners by the Aregbesola administration is a major talking point in the state with a cross-section of the citizenry expressing disappointment over the delay by the government. The expectation of a good number of the populace for quick transformation of the state is beginning to wane. Several residents of different communities who spoke with our correspondent held the opinion that the delay in the cabinet appointments was antithetical to the ACN’s promise of hope and development. The shouts of hosanna, which rent the air upon Aregbesola’s inauguration is gradually being replaced by despair.

From a legal perspective, however, Aregbesola and, or any other governor acting in executive capacity under the Constitution, is not duty bound to appoint any commissioner. Except for the post of the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, which Part III of the Constitution stipulates each state to have, it is not mandatory for the governor to govern a state through his commissioners. Part II, Section 195(1) of the Powers of the State Executive says, “There shall be an Attorney-General for each State who shall be the Chief Law Officer of the State and Commissioner for Justice of the Government of that state. Subsection (2) says, “A person shall not be qualified to hold or perform the functions of the office of the Attorney-General of a state unless he is qualified to practise as a legal practitioner in Nigeria and has been so qualified for not less than ten years.”

The Constitution goes further to say that, “The Governor of a state may, in his discretion, assign to the Deputy-Governor or any commissioner of the government of the state responsibility for any business of the government of that state, including the administration of any department of government, adding that the “governor of a state shall hold regular meetings with the Deputy-Governor and all commissioners of the government of the state for the purposes of – determining the general direction of the policies of the government of the state; coordinating the activities of the Governor, the Deputy-Governor and the commissioners of the government of the state in the discharge of their executive responsibilities; and advising the governor generally in the discharge of his executive functions.”

Investigation showed that the dominance of the PDP in the fourth session of the Osun House of Assembly, which rounded off a few days ago, was a major reason why the governor could not form a cabinet. As a condition for approving the list of caretaker committees set up by Aregbesola for the 30 local government councils of the state and the area office in Modakeke, the PDP-dominated House had bent the hands of the state government backwards by demanding that PDP members be made part of the caretaker committee members.

Findings further showed that the PDP demanded and got two of the seven-member committee in each of the councils. The immediate past Speaker of the House, Chief Adejare Bello, and his deputy, Mr Ropo Oyewole, got three slots in their Ede-North and Ife-Central constituencies respectively. Consequently, the demand by the PDP-dominated House for appointments of PDP members into local government councils informed the decision of the Aregbesola administration to wait until after the April general elections before the formation of the state’s cabinet.

In the opinion of the government, the PDP would not dictate to it – in terms of political patronage – if the ACN swept the stakes in the general elections. At the height of negotiation, the PDP-populated House also demanded to have inputs into the constitution of the Aregbesola cabinet – a move that was rejected by the governor. The list of the caretaker committee members forwarded to the House since last December did not get legislative approval until February as a result of negotiation and horse-trading between the PDP and the ACN. The fifth session of the House of Assembly was inaugurated on Thursday, June 2, 2011.

Explaining the delay in the formation of the cabinet, the state ACN’s Director of Research and Strategy, Mr. Sunday Akere, said, “The rot left behind by the Olagunsoye Oyinlola-led PDP was monumental. For any success-driven government to succeed in the stifling legacy of waste and inaction bequeathed by Oyinlola, there is the need for a thorough, critical and dispassionate analysis of the decay left by Oyinlola with a view to charting a way out.

“A government that collected N18.3bn and decided to build stadia with it in an agrarian state begging for agricultural revival should be openly tried. It is not compulsory for Governor Aregbesola to work with commissioners. What he has done in the last seven months is to lay the pedestal on which Osun’s development will be built. When the governor assumed office, he saw the need for the restructuring of the service delivery system in the state. This was why he restructured the ministries preparatory to the delivery of his six-point agenda, which comprised employment generation, housing, education, agriculture, rural integration and infrastructural development.

“In the bid to reposition governance, Aregbesola has created new ministries such as Ministry of Agric and Food Security, Ministry of Human Resources and Capacity Building, Ministry of Regional Integration and Special Duties, Ministry of Commerce, Cooperatives and Empowerment. The government has also restructured the Governor’s Office by creating the bureaux of Social Services and Communication and Strategy. All these innovations took less than three months. After this exercise, the government is evolving ways of deploying capable hands with relevant cognate experience to man these areas. Also, there was the need to include the state Youth Employment Scheme, which employed 20, 000 youths within 90 days, and the Osun Rural Empowerment Agricultural Programme into the budget. These laudable projects were not included in the budget because of the January 1, deadline given to states to pass their budgets.”

But even as these arguments go on, our correspondent findings showed that the governor would name his cabinet as soon as he returns from India, where he had gone on medical checkup. The list of nominees sent by elders of the party from the 30 local government councils had reached the governor.

In a telephone interview, on Wednesday, the Director, Osun Bureau of Communication and Strategy, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, queried, “What is better? To work silently and achieve monumental results or to make a loud noise, misappropriate taxpayers’ money and achieve nothing at the end of the day?”

The people of Osun have chosen the latter option and this is why they have been supportive of the Aregbesola government despite inconsequential hues and cries from the PDP. The people can see how their funds are being put into good use. The noise by the PDP is understandable; when a man comes and outshines, in just 90 days, your avowed achievements of seven and a half years, you are bound to be jealous.”