During his acceptance speech after his re-election as the speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa said the Assembly was going to pass new property, and business ownership laws in the state. He said they would employ all legislative instruments for the support of the indigenes of Lagos and that there would be laws and resolutions in the areas of economy and commerce, property and titles.

However, a lawyer and House of Representatives member representing Oshodi/Isolo constituency 2 on the platform of the Labour Party (LP), Okey-Joe Onuakalusi, said that property is a constitutional matter and that any law in any state of the federation that is inconsistent with the 1999 constitution as amended is null and void.

What is your view on the election of House of Representatives leadership?

I told them in the House that we need to work together for the progress of the country. I voted after consultation with my constituents. He was the right candidate and we decided to vote for him for the independence of the legislature and the welfare of Nigeria which is paramount.

How did the proposed property law come to you?

On the issue of the pronouncement of policy direction by the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, let us understand that the constitution defined the parameters of relationship in the country. To own property is a constitutional matter. Therefore no legislature, no state in the federation can erode it and any law in any state of the federation that is inconsistent with the 1999 constitution as amended is null and void.

Therefore, any citizen has the right to own property in any part of Nigeria. I see that pronouncement by the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly as an aggrandizement of showmanship. I know that it won’t stand the test of time because we have a constitution that is a fulcrum of the Nigerian nation and no state can make any law that will compromise it. In the event that they go contrary to the constitution of the federal Republic of Nigeria, it will be challenged legitimately in the court of law. I told my people not to lose sleep over it and when they come up with the law, we know the right thing to do. This is not the time for window shadow legislature. This is the time to face reality because Nigeria is indeed troubled. We don’t want anything that will distract us now.

How are you going to fulfil your campaign promises?

I was overwhelmed by my constituents’ visit to Abuja during my inauguration, despite the harsh economic situation. More than 50 people trooped to Abuja to participate in my inauguration. After the inauguration, we had two successful meetings in Abuja. I gave them my template in line with my campaign promises, and we are already discussing based on the five departments that I raised. We will inaugurate the team on or before June 30 at the constituency office. We have been able to identify people who have an understanding in my area of interest. We agreed that we’re going to hit the ground running.

Now that we’re on recess, I will be in Lagos to inaugurate the various departments. Hopefully on or before August we will have the first town hall meeting. We’ll get the departments to put these ideas in place so that when we meet we’ll have a seamless operation. The committees are already in place but we will make the final pronouncement at the constituency office. We’ll give each department its roles, who will head it and the template to work with. That is the way we can achieve our dream. The teams that are working on our magazine, talent hunt are already working. By the time that we institute the various committees in each department, we’ll hit the ground running.

The Issue of how much a lawmaker earns has continued to raise dust; what’s your reaction to that?

We should cut our clothes according to the cloth. We should be able to lead by example. I’m committed to all my philosophies that I have advanced all these years. I will be available to make open things that concern me personally especially when it comes to the issues of emoluments.

Before you are inaugurated, you must submit your code of conduct form. I did that and it is in the public, you can access it. On the issue of campaign expenses, I will say that I have been running elections since 2011. In 2023 we came under the wave of a new Nigeria. Many of my friends contributed in one way or the other to ensure that I had a successful campaign. I told them that their contributions would not be attached to what they would get from me because I wouldn’t go outside my purview as a legislator to make refunds. I did a clear understanding at the beginning of the process.

My assets declaration is with the code of conduct bureau and it is after four years that you will check if what I declared is different from what I am worth. I’ll assure Nigerians that I’ll keep to what I have been propagating since as an activist. I cannot assess myself, you can do that maybe after two or three years, you’ll know if anything has changed. On the issue of the welfare of the people, I have been discussing with my colleagues if there is any way we can review our remuneration to be in consonant with what the general Nigerians receive. Because if we are not able to do it we may not be able to live according to our income. We should live according to our income in all manner. It is my philosophy and I will keep driving it. I believe that God will help and keep reminding me of all the promises that I have made, that I should be able to live it out till the end of my tenure.

The promises that I made to my constituency I’ll do my best to ensure that they come into play with the present economic realities. Government officials should be able to live within their income to be able to address the issue of poverty in the country. If you are rich in the midst of 200 people, you will be endangered. The only way to address poverty is to create an enabling environment where every Nigerian should be taken care of. When I had a conversation with the Speaker I told him that if he was aware that at the end everything we would go back to our constituencies. I asked if he was promising me that he would do his best to ensure the independence of the legislature. Again to ensure that all the bills are geared towards the welfare of Nigerians. I’ll be vigilant and call his attention to the promises that he made to me personally that he will ensure the independence of the legislature to ensure that Nigerians’ interests are promoted.

How will you be engaging the Lagos government in the course of your duty?

We’re no longer in partisan politics, all we need is governance and governance has to work. Even though we are coming from different political parties, the most important thing is what constituency projects you are bringing to your constituents. After the inauguration we had a discussion with the Governor of Lagos State and I told him that we are ready for a strategic partnership that will promote Lagos State even though we are from different political parties.

Whatever programme that we want to push from Abuja which is for the common interest of Lagosians I’m available to do it. We won’t compromise our position as Labour Party legislators. I have mapped out roads for construction and rehabilitation. If you go to my constituency, we commissioned eight roads in December last year, done by individuals. The ones in the Okota axis were individually built. Those that fall under category B of the roads, I will take them to the state governor and tell him, “These are the roads that need your attention.

All the roads built in Greenfield estate were done by the landlords. All the roads built in Canal estate were done by the landlords. At the back of Century hotel, all the roads constructed there were done by the landlords. We also have some bad and dilapidated roads in the Ejigbo area of my constituency. We will list out the roads that need attention, and the drainages as well. I will forward them to the Governor. I won’t say that I won’t approach him for infrastructure development because he is from a different political party. (Daily Sun)

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