Majority leader of the Ondo State House of Assembly, Oluwole Ogunmolasuyi, has been elected chairman of all House Leaders in the Southwest region of Nigeria.
This happened as Majority Leaders of the State Houses of Assembly from the six states in the Southwest region converged on Akure, the Ondo state capital, under the umbrella of Southwest Legislative Reform Implementation Committee (SLRIC), to brainstorm on the development of the legislative arm of government in the Southwest, with a view to harmonising legislative practices in the zone.
Ogunmolasuyi, who represents Owo Constituency I, was unanimously elected to take over from the immediate past Majority leader of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Oyeniran Agunbiade.
The Ondo State Lawmakers’ leader is expected to lead the forum till the end of the 10th Assembly.
Handing over the mantle of leadership to Ogunmolasuyi, Agunbiade said the forum had recorded a lot of successes since it was formed some years ago to champion legislative stability in the southwest.
The former Lagos Assembly Majority Leader noted that the Forum had achieved harmonized House Rules for all the six houses of assembly in the zone, adding that same is being copied nationally.
In his acceptance speech, the new Chairman and Majority Leader of the Ondo state House of Assembly, Oluwole Ogunmolasuyi, said the SLRIC will continue to serve as a rallying point for all Southwest majority leaders to promote unity and foster acceptance of standard legislative practices in the region.
According to him, the Akure meeting will lay the foundation upon which the new Houses of Assembly will build on in the zone and it is expected of the majority leaders in the region to encourage their co-lawmakers to contribute immensely to the development of their constituency and constituents.
Ogunmolasuyi, therefore, promised that the Forum under his leadership will strive to do better than the past and ensure that all the objectives which it stands for are upheld.
He said: “We shall also ensure that the platforms which will better the lot of Southwest Houses of Assembly are created thereby making us the cynosure of eyes amongst all the regions in Nigeria.
“We have achieved success on our mandate, we are mandated to champion legislative reform and ensure its implementation in the Southwest. We have achieved brotherhood among majority leaders in the Southwest, we have achieved cordiality.
“We are striving to ensure that all legislators in Southwest come together to know ourselves better, to interact and know the areas of interest that will benefit individuals, as well as create harmonious relationship among all the houses in the southwest.
“We have done cross learning programs in some critical areas of oversights, budgeting. We have championed the harmonization of rules of the Southwest where the major provision that are in consonance with best legislative practices are extracted from all the rules of each of the Houses of Assembly are being put together.
“We make sure that the Houses also follow the procedure outlined in the rules. We went round the state to attend plenary and see how the rules are being used. We have been able to encourage all other zones in the country to harmonize their rules. We are in the process of making sure that the database for all legislators in the Southwest and to come together and interact,” Ogunmolasuyi said.
While declaring the inaugural meeting open, the Speaker of Ondo State House Of Assembly, Olamide Oladiji, who spoke through the Deputy Speaker, Abayomi Akinruntan, said “I will like to state that the committee should ensure that a platform be created for effective service delivery as regards oversight which will, enhance the level of legislative compliance among the Southwest House of Assembly”.
