…Agbaje warns against plunging Lagos into crisis
… APC debunks N100bn allegation
A coalition of civil society organisations (CSOs) on Thursday alleged that the Lagos State House of Assembly moved to impeach the
state Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, because the governor refused to release the
sum of N100 billion the All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership in the state
demanded for electioneering.
Also lending his voice against the governor’s plan,
the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state,
Mr. Jimi Agbaje, urged the lawmakers not to plunge the state into chaos with
the plan to remove Ambode.
The Convener of the coalition, Mr. Mark Adebayo,
made the allegation at a world press conference held at the Airport Hotel in
Ikeja, noting that with the removal, it was obvious that the assembly was
becoming a political abattoir for the murder of democracy in Nigeria.
Coming together under the aegis of Lagos Liberation
Movement (LLM), the CSOs that formed the coalition are the Campaign for
Democracy (CD), United Action for Democracy (UAD), Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC)(Reformed)
and Lagos People’s Assembly (LPA) with a mandate to stop the assembly from
witch-hunting Ambode.
Speaking at the conference yesterday, the convener
alleged that the assembly threatened to remove Ambode because he refused “to
release the sum of N100 billion tax payer’s money to the party to fund
political campaigns.
“It has been
alleged that Ambode’s refusal to hand over the state's treasury key to the
Lagos slave master-in-chief is the current cause of his travails. His
non-compliance with the directive to make available N100 billion by an
insatiable political godfather provoked the current backlash against the
governor.
“We have already put together a comprehensive
petition to the anti-graft agencies and multilateral organisations on the
reckless and irresponsible waste of the state's resources by the legislative
arm of government in the state.”
He noted that the coalition was interested in
knowing how the Speaker of the Lagos State Assembly, Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, “has
been administering N800 million "running costs" allocated to the
assembly monthly.
The convener noted that this was not inclusive of
individual honorable members' weekly and monthly allowances, which he alleged “are
extremely expensive and injurious to the development potential of Lagos State.”
Adebayo noted that the political situation of the state
“has become untenably desperate and requires the immediate attention of all
true Lagosians and genuine compatriots across Nigeria. This is no time for
fence-sitting. This is no time to claim political insulation or neutrality
popularly called ‘Sidonlook’.
“This is no time to play the ostrich. This is no
time to allow the rulers of darkness in this state and the merchants of
confusion to reign unchallenged. Rather, it is time to rein them in. The time
cannot be more auspicious than now.’’
He noted that the removal process against Ambode
“is aimed at humiliating and embarrassing him. A few political marauders are
determined to supplant our democracy and jeopardise the peace and development
of the state.
“Ambode is
the governor of Lagos State and not the governor of the APC. If they have
internal issues within the APC, that should not be allowed to negatively affect
the smooth running of government and make the people suffer. The whole state
cannot be reduced to the parochial shenanigans of a highly corrupted political
family.
‘’The office of Lagos State governor is beyond
Ambode and as such, any further humiliation, disrespect and embarrassment from
any quarter will be utterly resisted by the people. Lagos residents are
unequivocal in their view that Ambode is a performing governor based on his
style of governance and project execution.”
In a statement by his Directorate of Media and
Publicity yesterday, Agbaje asked the assembly and the APC not to plunge the
state into chaos over moves to remove Ambode, saying the move was capable of
jeopardising the smooth running of the state.
According to him Of course, the way Lagos politics
has been structured over the last two decades, government actions are often
dictated by open and covert objectives.
“That the legislators are hinging their action on
the purported delay of the budget is simply a smokescreen for a very shameful
undertone that the assembly members will not want to make open. They are yet to
tell us their actual motivation for this superfluous move to shame the
governor.
“I received
the news of the impending removal of Ambode with a lot of reservation,
especially with its timing and motive. This is just 19 or so days to the federal
elections, and the governorship, a fortnight thereafter. So the natural
questions to ask are: Why this haste? And what is the motive?” He asked.
Meanwhile, the APC has debunked the N100 billion allegation,
noting that it was fake news, which according to the party, should not be taken
seriously for any reason.
While speaking with journalists on phone on Thursday, the party
Publicity Secretary, Mr. Joe Igbokwe, said the allegation “is propaganda from
the opposition camp. It is not true that the party leaders demanded such money
for the purpose of funding our campaign. It is fake news, which no person
should believe.”
He, therefore, said the allegation should be dismissed,
claiming that it “is not true. I cannot react to fake news. At times, all sorts
of fake news is being circulated all over the country. It is propaganda against
our party.”
However, the PDP candidate, Agbaje, called Lagos
residents to note what he termed an unfolding tragicomedy, urging them “to
choose his party, PDP, as a viable alternative to the ruling APC that had
proved incapable of putting its house in order.
“Governance has ground to a halt owing to the schism
between the two arms of government, both of which are dominated by APC. From
all indications and from the findings that I have conducted, the action of the
lawmakers is nothing but self-serving as dictated to them by the cabal ruling the
state.”
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