Cogent facts have emerged explaining why the Lagos State Assembly threatened to arrest the former governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode on Thursday.
According to a statement issued by the House, the threat to arrest Ambode followed the presentation of a preliminary report by the ad hoc committee set up by the House to investigate the 820 buses purchased by the former governor while in office.
It was gathered that Ambode and some former government officials had refused to appear before the ad hoc committee of the House.
The former government officials include former Commissioners for Finance, Economic Planning, Justice and Attorney General, and Permanent Secretary, Economic Planning.
It would be recalled that the House had set up an ad hoc committee to investigate the purchase of 820 buses and the Oshodi Interchange project.
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Chairman of the committee, Fatai Mojeed, in his report, stated that out of the 20 officials summoned by the committee, four did not appear, hence, the committee could not come up with a comprehensive report.
He added that the committee also demanded the transaction vouchers for the buses purchased, and the only response received from the Accountant General of the State, was that she relied on the Governor’s approval.
“Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode did not report to the House before commencing the purchase of the buses in question, and investigation revealed that over N48billion was committed to the project, excluding the import duty totally N20.2billion. Out of 820 buses in question, 520 are still at the Nigerian Port Authority, Lagos.” He added.
Following the report, Gbolahan Yishawu noted that the purchase did not adhere to the state procurement laws and accused the Ambode-led administration of refusing to get the approval of the House before purchasing the bus.
At the end of deliberations, the Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, directed the Clerk of the House, Mr. Azeez Sanni to invite all the affected government officials including the former governor, Ambode.
Samson Oyedeyi
