Protesters under the aegis of Lagos Youth
Vanguard (LYV) on Tuesday stormed the Lagos State House of Assembly, chanting
solidarity songs to demand the probe of former governor Akinwunmi Ambode over
alleged corrupt activities.
The protesters were led by the
Patron of LYV, Mr. Rasak Olokooba and the President of the Group, Mr. Ibrahim
Ekundina.
Some of the placards of the
protesters read: “Ambode, submit yourself for probe,” “Ambode must be probed,”
“EFCC do your job,” “Ambode is a thief,” “Ambode awarded fake contracts,” and
“Ambode, return Lagos money.”
The Lagos Youth Vanguard stated
in their 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 civilised public officer.”
They accused Ambode of flouting
so many government procedures, saying that he refused to abide by the
procurement laws.
He was accused of wrong priority
in policies and programmes and abandoning the track that can bring about
development in the state.
“We call for his probe and
investigation with a view to apportioning penalty and dishing out appropriate
penalties.
“We want to assure the good
people of Lagos State, including all the people that care about Lagos and the
people of Lagos that we will continue to pursue every legitimate means until
justice is done,” they said.
Speaking to journalists in an
interview, Mr Rasak Olokooba, said that 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 the
former governor had been going about to disrupt the activities of the current
administration.
“For every government that is
going out, you leave a template for the coming 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 Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu is still intact if not, by now the people of
Lagos State would have been complaining bitterly.
“Put all these things 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 Akinwunmi Ambode, you
would see that we are right,” he said.
The activist insisted that
anybody could be investigated anytime, but that they were shocked by what
happened at the residence of former governor Ambode in Epe, when the operatives
of the EFCC wanted to search his residence.
He described what happened there
as very ungentlemanly, adding that this was not how statesmen behave and that
statesmen respect institutions and apparatuses of the government.
“Also, the parliament 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 taxpayer, I pay education
tax, 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 you don’t take it up,” he said
Olokooba maintained that they
were taking the matter up because the EFCC and the parliament had spoken about
it.
He stressed that the rest of the
world was watching Nigeria, which he said must work as it represents 2.5 % of
the population of the world.
“We are the most populous black
nation in the world and after Cairo it is Lagos among the most cosmopolitan
cities in Africa.
“We don’t want anybody to
mismanage Lagos. We want this to be a deterrent to others such as local
governments chairmen, senators and others in public offices who might want to
do what the last administration did.
“Look at the state of Lagos,
people were complaining bitterly over the litters of refuse in the state though
they are disappearing now. Look at Badagry Road, you would agree with me that
you are also part of what we are doing today as journalists,” he said.
Addressing the protesters, the
representative of the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon.
Mudashiru Obasa, Hon. Rotimi Olowo stated that the protesters were right as
their action was constitutional.
Olowo emphasized that the House
had commenced investigations into the government of Ambode and that they would
look into the petition as a House 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 finance of the state and ensure that the road in the state was motorable.
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