The Lagos State House of Assembly, Tuesday, refused to approve Governor Babatunde Fashola’s nominee for membership of the Lagos State Audit Commission, Mr. Adisa Ipaye, saying he was not a bona fide resident of the state.
The House pointed out that Ipaye was not qualified for the position because he was not registered with the state’s Resident Registration Agency and as such, could not present his resident card.
Apart from this, the House discovered that Ipaye’s credentials were not complete as one of his school certificates was absent from the documents presented to the lawmakers.
The House deliberated over Ipaye’s nomination after Leader of the House, Dr. Ajibayo Adeyeye, read a letter from Governor Fashola seeking the confirmation of Adisa Ipaye and Olusola Adeosun as members of the Lagos State Audit Service Commission.
The House Chief Whip, Abdulrazaq Balogun had asked his colleagues not to honour the nominees’ presence, but instead to disallowed them from the screening till the House had satisfactorily scrutinised their credentials. This was however rejected by his colleagues who argued that they should be screened since they had been invited for the exercise.
Ipaye, a graduate of Business Administration, while answering questions from the lawmakers, said he had not registered with the state, but that he still had the plan for the registration exercise.
Ipaye also made another error when asked about the absence of his school certificate. He told the lawmakers: “I am not sure whether I even collected the certificate or not. I don’t believe school certificate is as essential as stop me from getting any position.”
He was quickly reminded by Deputy Speaker of the House, Kolawole Taiwo, who presided over the plenary, that the constitution was expressly clear on the qualification of anyone picked for any office. He asked Ipaye to present the House with original copies of his credentials and evidence of registration as a resident of Lagos.
“This is part of the necessary requirements before your confirmation”, Taiwo said. “This is also part of the condition for those going for hajj, so I implore you to go for the registration”.
The House could not screen the second nominee because he was not present during the sitting.
