Hon Mudashiru Ajayi Obasa,
Speaker, Lagos House of Assembly, on Tuesday challenged Governor Akinwunmi
Ambode to tender evidence that the legislature was being paid N800m monthly as
running cost.
He spoke during the presentation
of the 2019 budget by Governor Ambode.
His speech reads in part:
“However, fallout of the budget brawl has led to series of negative
publications both on social media and in the print media, which are being
sponsored by a faceless group calling themselves the Legislative Probity and
Accountability (LPA) led by one Olu Fajana with its pseudonym. This started
immediately the misunderstanding between the executive and Legislative came up
in respect of the Y2019 budget, which means that such could not be ruled out to
have emanated from the
Executive.
“A section of the media has even
been mischievously misled into sensationally writing all manners of write-ups
against this assembly. Some of our friends in the media are personalizing the
issue thereby misinforming the public. The fact of the matter is that the issue
is between one arm of government and another. What was at stake then was
nothing but the matter of appropriation.
“Unfortunately, no one from the
Executive has risen to refute the baseless allegations. Since no one has come
up to address this, it is incumbent on us then to come forward and debunk the
allegations. As such, I use this medium to challenge the governor, the Finance
Commissioner and the Accountant General of the state to prove that we have been
collecting N800 million per month since the onset of this administration. Thank
God the governor is before us here today; so also, is the Finance commissioner
sitting in this hallowed chamber. I likewise challenge the faceless group to
prove that this Assembly has been collecting N800 million per month as alleged.
“In the same vein, this is also
an opportunity to shed more light on unsubstantiated allegations regarding
financial misappropriation, which is a clearly well-orchestrated campaign to
disrepute my character and integrity as the Speaker of the Lagos State House of
Assembly, and by implication tarnish the image of the legislative arm of the
state government.
“It must be known that the
monthly running cost of the Lagos State House of Assembly covers the entire
expenditure of the House comprising the 40 elected legislators and the
administration of over 700 staff. It includes sundry items such as travels,
training (both local and overseas) office running and maintenance, vehicles,
entertainment, publicity, security, protocols, logistics and administrative costs
among others.
“Dear Lagosians, as an arm of
government, we are not at odds with the Governor over anything. Rather, we are
diligently playing our roles in contributing to the transparent and accountable
governance that has made Lagos the envy of all and a model frame of reference
in terms of development in this political dispensation.
“We need to remind ourselves that
democracy is about institution and we must all learn to protect this. We must
not, in whatever circumstance, derogate or smear this institution. Failure to
do so will affect our democracy.”
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