The Assembly had rejected 17 out of the 39 commissioner-nominees submitted by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
A group, Christian Rights Nigeria has warned the Lagos State House of Assembly not to cause a religious crisis in the state.
The Assembly had rejected 17 out of the 39 commissioner-nominees submitted by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
The rejection came some days after some Islamic clerics protested against the alleged lopsidedness in the list of commissioner-nominees submitted to the Assembly by the governor. According to the clerics, only eight Muslims made the governor’s 39-man list while the rest were Christians.
However, the group accused the lawmakers of rejecting the nominees on religious grounds.
In a statement issued on Thursday by its National Leader, Pastor Eliashib James, the group said, "We have watched in utter amazement the unfolding drama at the Lagos State House of Assembly where surreptitious moves are being made by the House leadership to stoke religious tension in Lagos state.
"Egged on by a right-wing extremist religious group known as Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) of one Prof. Ishaq Akintola, the House of Assembly has manifested this by its rejection of a number of commissioner nominees in the state.
"We state without any equivocation that this is pure religious blackmail as contrary to the propaganda of MURIC, which the House of Assembly latched on, there are more Muslims in the government of Lagos than Christians.
"For example, starting from the House of Assembly, there are more Muslims than Christians.
"Similarly, there is the preponderance of Muslims over Christians among the 57 local government Chairmen in the state."
"Despite these, we Christians never raised an eyebrow. So why is the Lagos State House of Assembly stoking religious tension by rejecting many commissioner-nominees on religious grounds, deceptively couched for the public as insufficient documentation?
"For a political party that has a Muslim/Muslim ticket and recently appointed new Chairman and Secretary who are both Muslims, reeks of outlandish hypocrisy. We need to caution the Lagos State House of Assembly to stop this dangerous religious politics for the peace and progress of Lagos State," the group added.