RT. HON. ADEYEMI IKUFORIJI’S ACHIEVEMENTS SINCE HE BECAME A MEMBER OF THE LAGOS STATE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY IN JUNE, 2003.

RT. HON. ADEYEMI IKUFORIJI’S ACHIEVEMENTS SINCE HE BECAME A MEMBER OF THE LAGOS STATE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY IN JUNE, 2003.

Few weeks after being inaugurated as a Member of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Adeyemi Ikuforiji started showing the brilliant stuff of which he was made right on the floor of the House  during debates, particularly on germane  state matters. For instance he was the first lawmaker from the state that moved a motion in 2003 and it resulted in a resolution of the House requesting the Federal Government to accord Lagos a special status, before the issue was taken up at the National Assembly by the Alliance for Democracy (AD) Federal Legislators.

When he became the Chairman, House Committee on Special Duties & Inter-government Relations, Ikuforiji organized a historic conference on the relationship between the states and federal government, how it ought to be and how disagreements between the two levels of government can be resolved legally and politically. Lecturers who were invited to deliver papers at the conference included the former External Affairs Minister, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, Senior Lectures from the University of Lagos and other eminent personalities, while the programme was moderated by the Chairman of the Editorial Board of the Guardian Newspapers, Dr. Reuben Abati. Lectures delivered during the 2-day conference focussed on Democratic Norms, True Federalism and Rule of Law, Separation of Powers and Good Governance at the Local Government level with the general agreement that states are supposed to be autonomous units in the federation. It should be borne in mind that the conference came during the heat of crisis between the state of Lagos and Federal Government over the creation of 57 Local Councils by the former.

He was the first and only state top official elected twice into the House of Assembly from Epe. He was also the first lawmaker elected Speaker twice from the state and from Epe. It is unusual for anybody from that part of the state to be elected as a lawmaker and as well assume the post of the Speaker twice.

 As the Speaker, he changed the negative perception of Honourable Members by the Executive arm to positive one. As from January, 2006 Members of the state EXCO accorded the Lawmakers enough respect and recognition either at a public function or private engagement.

To instil discipline and as well maintain corrupt-free record in public finance, the Speaker inaugurated a new standing committee of the House known as Anti-corruption committee. Besides that he organized the first-ever Town Hall Meetings in each of the 20 old Local Councils where Hon. Members met with members of all the 40 constituencies in the state in 2009. The Assembly realized that people must also be involved in matters that concern them, hence the holding of the meetings. In other words, since the people are targets of development, constituents freely expressed their ideas, feelings and opinions on how the state is being governed at the forum. The Assemblymen were able to know the manner in which governance in the state was assessed in the area of road construction, provision of water, free education, health, rural development, etc. and report on the findings was prepared by the Assembly and sent to the Governor for the preparation of 2010 budget.   

In an unprecedented manner, the Speaker in 2009 spearheaded the struggle for the implementation of the Self Accounting Law of the Assembly and the subsequent passage of the Lagos State House of Assembly Service Commission, thereby making the State Legislative arm independent of the Executive arm with regards to finance, recruitment and discipline of staff.

 Added to this is staff development agenda of the Speaker, all Hon. Members and many support staff now enjoy massive workshops, seminars and other training programmes both locally and internationally- an opportunity that was never enjoyed by the lawmakers and staff before he became the Speaker. The agenda is aimed at developing the legislative institution in the state, believing that democracy and the people will be the greatest beneficiary of the idea.

Example of many of these training programmes was the seminar on Legislative Strategic Planning and Management, organized by the Assembly in collaboration with the International Law Institute, (ILI) USA. The programme, which drew participants from all the Legislative and Legal Officers of the Assembly, was held in Accra Ghana between 27 and 31^stMarch, 2011. Another is the just-concluded Leadership retreat programmes held for the Staffs in Badagry and Ibeju-Lekki area of Lagos this December for grade levels officers 13-16 and grade levels 8-12 respectively.

The infrastructural development of the Assembly and building a befitting Official Residence for the Hon. Speaker has been Ikuforiji’s interest for so long. But the dream came true in June, 2009 when the completed edifice was commissioned by the Governor of Lagos State, His Excellency, Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN). The Speaker’s residence, located on Joel Ogunnaike Street, GRA Ikeja, is a sprawling building with swimming pool, squash, gym rooms, etc. and other modern facilities that make the place an honourable home for the third citizen of Lagos State.

Another milestone recorded by the Speaker is the new chamber for the holding of plenary sessions of the Hon. Members. The chamber is being equipped with modern and sophisticated electronic and communication gadgets to make it easy for Hon. Members and Staff to communicate within and outside the precincts of the Chamber and also to the outside world. The new Chamber was commissioned in June, 2012 by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Aminu Tambuwwal with the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN) in attendance. The construction of new office blocks for Hon. Members and Staff has reached 98 percent completion and the project is expected to be completed and commissioned before the end of this year or early January, 2013.

Improvement on the welfare of the members and staff could not have been achieved without his ingenuity and insistence that what is good for the goose is also good for the gander. He also created an excellent working relationship between the Hon. Members and staff, to the extent that the lawmakers see the support staff as important in the delivery of legislative service to the people.

In Epe, his home town, he built and commissioned a block of four classrooms at St. Patrick Primary School in Epe in honour of retired Supreme Court Judge, Justice George Oguntade, who incidentally was an ex- pupil of the School. He also equipped the science laboratory of his alma mater, Epe Grammar School with scientific materials worth more than a million naira. He also contributed in no small way to the development of Epe and its people.  The Speaker is amiable and lover of sports, hence his sponsoring of the annual Ikuforiji Football Competiton since 1997 even before he joined politics. He also contributed to educational development of the children through award of scholarships to indigent pupils.