Ambode Risks Arrest As Lagos Assembly Receives Report On Purchase Of 820 Buses

The Lagos State House of Assembly has threatened to issue a warrant for the arrest of former governor of the state, Akinwumi Ambode.

The state assembly issued the threat on Thursday after receiving a preliminary report on the probe of 820 buses purchased by Ambode’s administration for the state.

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The assembly also threatened to issue warrants for the arrest of four others who served as commissioners under the former governor’s tenure.

They are 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 the 9-man ad-hoc committee probing purchase of the buses, Fatai Mojeed, had while presenting the report to the state assembly on Thursday declared that due process was not followed in the purchase.

Mojeed accused Ambode of using the Paris Club refund to purchase the buses without approval of the house, saying “he did not inform the House before commencing the purchase of the buses.

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“Over N48 billion was spent for the purchase of the buses and N22 Billion were spent on import duties. 520 of the buses are still at the seaport.”

According to Mojeed, the state’s accountant general said Ambode approved the funds used in purchasing the buses, but noted that no payment voucher was made available to the committee.

He added, “They could not produce any newspaper where the purchase of the buses were advertised. The committee invited 20 stakeholders, 16 of them complied, while four of them refused against the constitutional provision.”

Some members of the state assembly were said to have recommended the issue of arrest warrants against the governor and the former commissioners for refusing to houour their invitation on the matter.

The House of Assembly had set up a committee to probe Ambode after an alleged failed attempt by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to search the immediate-past governor’s residence.

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