Group Protests, Demands Probe of Ex-Governor Ambode

Hundreds of protesters on Tuesday stormed the premises of the Lagos State House of Assembly to demand a probe into the four-year tenure of former state Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, over alleged corrupt activities.

The protesters under the aegis of Lagos Youth Vanguard (LYV), who were majorly youths, chanted solidarity songs, as a representative of the state House of Assembly came to address them.

Carrying placards with inscriptions such as ‘EFCC do your job’; ‘Ambode is a thief’; ‘Ambode awarded fake contracts’, and ‘Ambode, Return Lagos Money’, they stated in a leaflet that was distributed to journalists that Ambode "deliberately laid landmine through the obvious improper, inappropriate and insufficient content in his handover note that should serve as a guide to the incoming administration in the tradition of every civilized public officer."

 

They accused Ambode of allegedly flouting so many government procedures, saying he refused to abide by the procurement laws.

He was accused of wrong priority in policies and programmes as well as abandoning the track that could bring about development in the state.

According to them, "We call for his probe and investigation with a view to apportioning appropriate penalties.

"We want to assure the good people of Lagos State, including all the people that care about the state that we will continue to pursue every legitimate means until justice is done."

Speaking to journalists in an interview, the Patron of LYV, Mr. Rasak Olokooba, said it was good to be fair to every administration.

Olokooba added that they had watched events for 90 days, and that there were clear indications that Ambode had been allegedly disrupting the activities of the current administration.

"For every outgoing government, you leave a template for the incoming government to succeed. Ambode handed over a very rickety handing over note that cannot assist the current administration.

"If you go round the state today, you will see that there is no governor that would inherit such state and the people of the state would be happy with him, but thank God, the goodwill enjoyed by the current state Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, is still intact if not, by now, the people of the state would have been complaining bitterly.

 

"Put all these together and add it to what the EFCC said recently that they were going to conduct an investigation into the activities of the former governor, you would see that we are right," he said.

The group patron insisted that anyone could be investigated anytime, but that they were shocked by what happened at the residence of Ambode in Epe, when the operatives of the EFCC wanted to search his residence.

He described what happened there as very ungentlemanly, adding that that was not how statesmen behave, and that statesmen respect institutions and apparatuses of the government.

Olokooba said: "Also, the parliament (state assembly) has promised us that they were going to look into the activities of the last administration, but we have not heard anything from them. I am a tax payer; I pay education tax, so I pay the salaries of the governor from my tax, and I must be concerned about how the money is being spent likewise other Nigerians.

"The former governor must be accountable for how he ran the affairs of the state in the last four years. We want him to clear his name. Gone are the days when people just hear of probe and it is not taken up.”

Olokooba maintained that they were taking the matter up because the EFCC and the parliament had spoken about it, stressing that the rest of the world is watching Nigeria, which he said must work as it represents 2.5 percent of the population of the world.

Addressing the protesters, Hon. Rotimi Olowo, who represented the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, stated that the protesters have the constitutional right to protest peacefully.

Olowo emphasised that the assembly had commenced investigations into the government of Ambode, and that they would look into the petition as legislators and do their jobs as expected.

The lawmaker added that they were having a committee meeting shortly before the protesters arrived, to look into the finances of the state and ensure that the roads in the state are motorable.