Protest in Lagos Against Lawmakers Threat to Impeach Ambode
A group of people have marched to the Lagos State Assembly to protest
the lawmakers threat to impeach the State’s governor Akinwunmi Ambode.
These people were seen in the early hours of Wednesday in front of the state’s assembly carrying placards with inscriptions like “leave Ambode alone to finish his tenure or else APC will loose Lagos,” “Stop humiliating our elected governor” and so on.
On Monday, the State Assembly issued a one-week notice to the governor to appear before it to explain why he was allegedly spending unapproved funds.
During plenary, the lawmakers accused the governor of misconduct, and therefore, summoned him to clear himself of the charge. The lawmakers said they would begin collection of signatures for his impeachment if he refuses to clear himself.
The speaker, Mudashiru Obasa, while harping on the need to give the number one citizen a fair hearing, said: “The Attorney General, Finance Commissioner and Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning that ought to have advised the governor did not do so.
“The most important thing is that we should let the people know that a budget that was yet to be approved was being spent, which was why we could not attend to the governor on the budget on Monday, January 21,” Obasa said.
“We must give them a fair hearing to come and explain what happened. The point has been made that there must be something before the House before you can commence expenditure. We want to call on the governor to come within a week to explain himself before we start gathering signatures for impeachment.” he added.
Ambode lost his bid for re-election in October after the former governor of Lagos State and national leader of Nigeria’s ruling All Progressives Congress Bola Tinubu refused to back him for a second term because he deviated from the master plan created for the development of the state.
Tinubu also accused Ambode, whom he supported in 2015, of alienating those who ” contributed so much to our development”.
“Whenever a government departed from this plan without [a] compelling reason, the state and its people have borne the painful consequence of the improper departure,” Tinubu said.
Apart from this, the governor and the House publicly disagreed over the engagement of Visionscape, a private foreign-owned waste management company, contracted to manage waste disposal in the state.
The new arrangement meant the governor dumped the LAWMA-Private Sector Partnership (PSP) arrangement put together by his predecessor, Babatunde Fashola. A source said many APC members who benefitted from the arrangement were put out of business. Moreover, Visionscape proved to be incapable of functioning where the PSP operators had enjoyed moderate success.
The state assembly finally found its voice in May 2018 through the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, who described Visionscape as a ghost organization in the state, insisting that the organization would not be recognized by the House.
The seeming face-off between the governor and the House got to its peak during the governorship primary, with members of the House throwing their weight behind Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
These people were seen in the early hours of Wednesday in front of the state’s assembly carrying placards with inscriptions like “leave Ambode alone to finish his tenure or else APC will loose Lagos,” “Stop humiliating our elected governor” and so on.
On Monday, the State Assembly issued a one-week notice to the governor to appear before it to explain why he was allegedly spending unapproved funds.
During plenary, the lawmakers accused the governor of misconduct, and therefore, summoned him to clear himself of the charge. The lawmakers said they would begin collection of signatures for his impeachment if he refuses to clear himself.
The speaker, Mudashiru Obasa, while harping on the need to give the number one citizen a fair hearing, said: “The Attorney General, Finance Commissioner and Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning that ought to have advised the governor did not do so.
“The most important thing is that we should let the people know that a budget that was yet to be approved was being spent, which was why we could not attend to the governor on the budget on Monday, January 21,” Obasa said.
“We must give them a fair hearing to come and explain what happened. The point has been made that there must be something before the House before you can commence expenditure. We want to call on the governor to come within a week to explain himself before we start gathering signatures for impeachment.” he added.
Ambode lost his bid for re-election in October after the former governor of Lagos State and national leader of Nigeria’s ruling All Progressives Congress Bola Tinubu refused to back him for a second term because he deviated from the master plan created for the development of the state.
Tinubu also accused Ambode, whom he supported in 2015, of alienating those who ” contributed so much to our development”.
“Whenever a government departed from this plan without [a] compelling reason, the state and its people have borne the painful consequence of the improper departure,” Tinubu said.
Apart from this, the governor and the House publicly disagreed over the engagement of Visionscape, a private foreign-owned waste management company, contracted to manage waste disposal in the state.
The new arrangement meant the governor dumped the LAWMA-Private Sector Partnership (PSP) arrangement put together by his predecessor, Babatunde Fashola. A source said many APC members who benefitted from the arrangement were put out of business. Moreover, Visionscape proved to be incapable of functioning where the PSP operators had enjoyed moderate success.
The state assembly finally found its voice in May 2018 through the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, who described Visionscape as a ghost organization in the state, insisting that the organization would not be recognized by the House.
The seeming face-off between the governor and the House got to its peak during the governorship primary, with members of the House throwing their weight behind Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
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