Layode Cautions Lagos Assembly on Ambode’s Arrest

A member of the Lagos State House of Assembly representing Badagry Constituency 1, Ibrahim Layode, has advised the house to tred with caution over the threat to issue a warrant of arrest to the immediate past Governor of the state.
He noted that the concerned individuals should be invited through newspaper advertisements.
Ambode is being investigated followingttwo preliminary reports presented by two adhoc committees set up by the House to look into the 820 buses purchased during his tenure.
The former governor is also under investigation with former commissioners which include, Kazeem Adeniji (Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice), Olusegun Banjo (Commissioner for Budget), Akinyemi Ashade (Commissioner for Finance) and Wale Oluwo (Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources).
The chairman of a 9 man committee, Fatai Mojeed noted that due process were not followed in the purchase of the buses.
The lawmaker said Ambode used the refund of the Paris Club for the purchase of the buses without the approval of the House, saying “he did not inform the House before commencing the purchase of the buses.
“Over ₦48 billion was spent for the purchase of the buses and ₦22 Billion were spent on import duties. 520 of the buses are still at the seaport.”
Acccording to Mojeed, the Accountant General of the state told the committee that she depended on the approval of Ambode for the purchase of the buses and that no payment voucher was made available to the committee.
On his part, Gbolahan Yishawu, Chairman Adhoc Committee on mid-year budget review, alleged that the above mentioned commissioners were invited by his committee but refused to appear without giving any excuses for their absence.
According to the Majority Leader, Hon. Sanai Agunbiade, “I want to observe that if they have been invited and refused to show up, we should summon them and if they still refuse, then a warrant of arrest can be issued. Now, they’ve been invited, we should summon them by using the dailies before going to the extent of issuing arrest warrant.”
Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, noted that the issue was beyond issue of arrest warrant, “because when this house invite people and they refused to show up, it’s like setting a bad precedence for others coming behind.
“The clerk should write them, including the ex-governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode and if they refused, we will do newspaper publications and after that we will issue a warrant of arrest,” Obasa stated.