By Femi Kasali
The Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Ajayi Obasa has denied that the assembly has passed Sharia Bill into law.
Reports had claimed that the assembly secretly passed the Islamic legal code into law, which will lead to the setting up of Sharia courts in the nation’s economic capital.
The state would have joined Zamfara, Sokoto, Kano and other northern states who are currently operating under the Islamic jurisprudence.
Reacting to the report, Eromosele Ebhomele, the Chief Press Secretary to the Speaker said the report is untrue, and should not be accorded any seriousness.
According to the report, Governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo Olu has also signed the bill into law after it was passed by the assembly.
The peddlers of the report also claimed that the law is part of the agreement reached by Bola Tinubu, the APC presidential candidate with the northern establishment to support his presidential bid in 2023.
But, Eromosele debunked the claim saying the assembly did not pass such law.
He told this news medium that the report is part of efforts by mischief makers to cause chaos in the State and pitch the Governor and assembly against Lagosians.
Eromosele stressed that the assembly and the Governor Sanwo Olu administration hold Lagosians in high esteem and would not take any decision that will affect the peace, unity and tranquility the State is enjoying at this critical and sensitive time that the 2023 election is gathering momentum.
It was learnt from competent sources in the assembly that some bigot islamic leaders in the state have actually made attempts on the assembly to pass the Sharia law, but were rebuffed on the basis that such could trigger religious crisis in the state.
In the same vein, Hon Setonji David, the Chairman, House Committee on Information, Security and Strategy in a Statement said that the attention of the Lagos State House of Assembly has been drawn to a malicious and unfounded report making the rounds on social media that the assembly has secretly passed a sharia law in a deal to get Northern support for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the APC Presidential Candidates.
“We would not have dignified the writer of this hate speech but in order to set the record straight, this is a mere figment of the imagination of the writer and a total lie from the pit of hell.
“No informed person should believe this lies against the Assembly that is above the common standard of excellence. The news is far from the reality.
“Some people are just mischievous. Spreading all sorts of untrue stuff. Is it possible to pass a law under cover? The process of law making is universal and very open. You cannot pass a law without subjecting it to public hearing in Lagos State.
“We urged the residents of the state and Nigerians as a whole to take the peddlers of this unfounded report as illiterate, uninformed, and uneducated people who needed to be schooled about law making process.
“Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a fast selling products across the country and does not need any law from the state to further endear him to all Nigerians and by the Special Grace of God, the Jagaban would emerge winner of the 2023 Presidential election to the shame of the purveyors of this hate news”, the statement reads.
