The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Lagos Assembly

  • UPDATED: At last, Lagos Assembly passes 2019 budget

    After going through the grind mill for some months, the Lagos state year 2019 budget was finally passed at plenary on Monday by members of the House Assembly.

    The total budget size passed by the Assembly is N873.532b, which is a difference of about N21.215b from the N852.317b originally presented to the Assembly by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode in February.

    Of this amount capital expenditure stands at N479.691b while recurrent expenditure is N393.841b

    Although the House had said it was allotting another day for debate of the report of the Appropriation committee because of its volume and technicality when the report was presented last week Friday, it was surprising that it did not take the House up to 10 minutes to debate and make few corrections before adopting the report, taking the third reading and passing the budget.

    The Chief Whip commended the committee for its report especially the provision that office of the Accountant-General should be strengthened for better performance.

    He also suggested some monies that the committee recommended to be dropped which are meant for continuation of some infrastructural projects should instead be paid into a specialised account.

    Former Appropriation committee, Hon. Rotimi Olowo, supported Abiru on the specialised account suggestion and subsequently moved the motion for the adoption of the report as amended as a resolution of the House he was seconded by Hon. Adefunmilayo Tejuoso.

    When Speaker Mudashiru Obasa put it to vote the lawmakers voted for adoption of the report.

    Read also: Last PDP member of Lagos Assembly defects to APC

    The speaker subsequently put the allocation sectorally to vote before the third reading was taken and budget passed.

    Obasa then directed the Clerk of the House, Azeez Sanni, to send a clean copy of the passed Appropriation law to the governor for signature.

    It was a tortous journey for the 2019 budget, which resulted to a lot of controversies leading to some insinuations, accusations and counter accusations in several quarters.

    These dramas resulted in its passage being delayed till April, which is unprecedented in the passage of budget in Lagos state.

    After it is passed, it is hoped Ambode will sign it into law this week for resuscitation of governmental activities.

  • Last PDP member of Lagos Assembly defects to APC

    The last member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Dipo Olorunrinu Monday at plenary formally defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

    The letter to this effect was read at the plenary by the Clerk of the House, Mr. Azeez Sanni.

    In the letter which was titled, “Letter of defection from PDP to APC,” the lawmaker apologized for his late defection, saying “I sincerely apologize that the defection is coming now. I ask for mercy.”

    Olorunrinu who is representing Amuwo Odofin I, stated that he had now seen reasons to join his other colleagues from PDP who had dumped the party for APC, saying “As a young progressives minded politician, I realign with APC.”

    He expressed delight over the leadership qualities of the National leader of APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the Speaker, Hon. Mudashiru Obasa and a senior member of the House who is a Senator-elect, Hon. Sikiru Osinowo.

    In his comments on the floor, Olorunrinu who requested for a handshake from the Speaker as it was done in the past said; “Once upon a time, we had eight of us from PDP in 2015, I said to myself I must join the progressives.”

    He described PDP as a party that lacks structure and vision, adding that “I said to myself I must join the progressives who are in the ruling party, APC.

    “I decided to align with APC being the winning train and party that will take Lagos to the next level, I also thank the leadership of the House for providing me with all the tools to work for greater development of my people despite being in opposition all this while,” Olorunrinu said.

    While commending Olorunrinu for the bold step, the Speaker said, “the best party in Lagos is APC, there is nothing to gain in PDP.

    “At last we have the only man standing who has now joined those who are standing. We welcome you. You have always been with us, only that you refused to dump the leaking umbrella,” Obasa said.

    Some of the PDP leaders from Olorunrinu’s constituency who were at the plenary included, ward chairman, Mr. Hassan Yusuf, Mr. Moses Inuha, Ikechukwu Ikenna among others.

  • Lagos Assembly fails to pass 2019 budget

    • Committee increases budget size

    The Lagos State House of Assembly on Friday failed to pass the 2019 budget at its plenary.

    The House only took the presentation of the report of the Appropriation committee as contained in its order paper for Friday sitting.

    Observers of the Assembly had concluded when they saw the order paper for the day’s sitting that the budget would be passed as was always the case.

    The Chairman of the Appropriation committee, Gbolahan Yishawu presented the report at plenary and had to skip some parts because of its huge volume.

    After his presentation, Majority Leader Sanai Agunbiade said because of the volume of the report and its technicality the House would have to allot another day for the comprehensive debate of the report.

    It is after the debate of the report and necessary amendments that the third reading of the Bill will be taken before its passage.

    Meanwhile, if the recommendations of the Appropriation committee is adopted by the House it means the budget size will increase from the original N852.317b to N874.96b; that is a difference of about N22.541b from the figure presented to the House by the governor in February.

    Although the House did fix a date to debate the report, it however adjoined sitting till Monday.

    For now Lagosians still have to wait for year 2019 budget to be passed almost five months into the new financial year which has never happened in the history of the state at least since the commencement of the current democratic dispensation.

     

  • Lagos Assembly may pass 2019 budget today

    The Lagos State 2019 budget maybe passed today, Friday, at plenary by the State Assembly.

    According to the Order Paper for today’s plenary, presentation of the 2019 Appropriation Bill is the last item slated for Business of the day.

    The notice of today’s plenary and the order paper to lawmakers states: “Distinguished colleagues, Please, be reminded that there shall be plenary tomorrow Friday 26th April 2019 at 10.00 a.m.

    Business of the Day……….”B.  Presentation of Reports. (i)      HAB NO. 59.*Public Procurement Agency (Amendment) Bill, 2018.*“A Bill for a Law to Amend Lagos State Public Procurement Agency Law CH.L.56 VOL.6 Laws of Lagos State and for Connected Purposes.” Hon. Ogundimu O. (Agege II), Chairman, Committee on Finance; (ii)     HAB NO. 66. *Appropriation Bill, 2019.*

    “A  Bill for a Law to authorize the issue and appropriation of N389,560,227,242 from the Consolidated Revenue Fund for Recurrent Expenditure and N462,756,709,241 from Development Revenue Fund for Capital Expenditure, thereby totalling a Budget size of N852,316,936,483 approximately N852.317 Billion for the year ending 31st December, 2019.” – Hon. (Engr.) Yishawu G.O.R. (Eti-Osa II) – Chairman, Committee on Economic Planning and Budget.

    After the presentation, sources at the Assembly say as is the usual practice; the House would take the third reading of the Bill and pass it immediately for the governor’s assent.

    It would be recalled that the House committee on appropriation laid the report on the budget before the House about two weeks ago after the initial controversy surrounding the readiness of the executive to present the budget to the legislature and the lack of willingness by the legislators to receive the budget because of supposed infractions by the executive.

    An issue that was later resolved by the leadership of the party before Governor Ambode eventually laid the budget before the House in February.

    This is the first time that Lagos State is experiencing this kind of delayed passage of budget.

    Usually the state budget is always passed by the last week of December of the outing financial year or latest first week of the new financial year.

    The late passage of the appropriation bill has been attributed to the slow down and in some cases outright stoppage of on-going projects in the state as well as the lack of repairs on most roads which has worsened the traffic situation in the state for some months now.

    Political observers have attributed this unusual delay in the passage of this year’s budget to unnecessary friction between the executive and legislative arms of government.

    Talk about where two elephants fight it is the grass that suffers, that has exactly been the plight of Lagosians these past few months as they have borne the brunt of the late passage of the bill as they have been subjected to untold hardship all this while.

    While funds have also not been made available for the smooth running of government activities as the budget cannot become fully operational for funds to be released until it is passed into law.

    It is hoped that if the budget is passed today government activities might pick up again in the remaining four weeks of the lifespan of the current administration and would also ease things up for the coming administration.

  • ‘Whoever obstructs LNSC officials risks N250,000 fine, imprisonment’

    The Lagos State House of Assembly has recommended a fine of N250, 000 or six months imprisonment for any individual who obstructs members of the Lagos State Neighbourhood Safety Corps (LNSC) from carrying out their duties.

    This followed the adoption of the report of its Committee on Information, Security and Strategy as presented by its Chairman, Mrs Adefunmilayo Tejuosho by the House during plenary on Monday.

    Tejuosho presented the report on “A Bill for a Law to Amend the Lagos State Neighbourhood Safety Agency for the Regulation and Control of Neighbourhood Safety Corps Activities and for Connected Purposes’’.

    According to her, it was observed at the public hearing held on Dec. 14, 2018 that certain sections of the Principal Law needed to be amended in addition to those contained in the Amendment Bill.

    She said that in order to allow for proper efficiency and strengthening of the agency, there was a need to create more sections to make the amendment more encompassing.

    Tejuosho said that the amendment created a new Section 25 in the Principal Law with the side-note “Obstruction of Authorised Officer’’.

    Read also: LNSC arrests 14 traffic ‘robbers’

    “A person, who wilfully and unlawfully obstructs, restrains, prevents, harasses or injures a safety corps member or any authorised officer in the discharge of his duties under this law commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a term of six months imprisonment or to fine of N250, 000 only or both fine and imprisonment.

    “A duly authorised safety corps member shall have power to enter, inspect and conduct search upon warrant issued by a Magistrate as may be incidental to be operation of this law.

    “A safety corps member shall have power to arrest anyone who commits, about to commit or is suspected of criminal activities and shall handover such person (s) to the police,” the amendment bill read in part.

    Section 27, subsection 2 of the amendment, however, stated that a safety corps member shall not exploit his or her membership of the safety corps for personal advantage or benefits.

    “A safety corps member who violates the provisions of this section commits an offence under Section 68 of the Criminal Law and is liable on conviction to five years imprisonment,’’ Subsection 3 of Section 27 read in part.

    The amendment stated that some functions of the LNSC include establishment of the uniform safety corps in all local government areas of the state.

    The agency is also expected to take over all existing responsibilities of the neighbourhood watch and absorb all eligible neighbourhood watch members into the safety corps.

    According to the bill, the agency will register all private vigilant groups, private home security and any other person employed for private security as well as carrying out enlightenment campaign on crime detection and prevention.

    The lawmakers took turns to commend the committee for the amendment and debated the bill.

    In his observation, Prince Bisi Yusuff said that tenure of the board should not be put on part time but on full time as proposed in the amendment because of the importance of security.

    Yusuff said that LNSC should be thoroughly funded through the Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF)

    Mr Rotimi Olowo (APC-Somolu I) harped on the need for the agency to liase with other security agencies for proper security of lives and property.

    The Majority Leader, Mr Sanai Agunbiade, who corroborated Yusuff said: “The tenure of members of the board should not be part time because of the nature of the issue (security).

    “Lagos is a dynamic state with various security challenges. We must be emphatic on this.

    “I wish to state that the job should be permanent and not part time’’.

    In his submission, Mr Mudashiru Obasa, the Speaker of the House, Mr Obasa said that the fines for anyone who obstructs LNSC officials was mild and that it would not deter criminals.

    Obasa said that the board should be separated from the agency to allow the agency function well.

    On whether the job of the board members should be part-time or full time, the speaker said that depended on the functions of the board.

    The bill is, however, awaiting the third reading having scaled the second reading.

    Meanwhile, the House also debated reports on Public Private Partnership (PPP) and the Lagos State House of Assembly Service Commission (LAHASCOM)

    The reports were presented by the Chairmen of House Committee on Finance and House Committee on Establishment, Training and Pension, Mr Yinka Ogundimu and Mrs Mojisola Meranda respectively.

    On PPP, the lawmakers were unanimous during debate that the House should be involved in all MoU and feasibility studies on PPP as the representatives of the people for transparency and accountability.

    The two reports were adopted as the resolutions of the House. (NAN)

  • Breaking: Finally, Ambode presents N852.31b budget to Assembly

    The much -awaited 2019 budget for Lagos State was finally presented and laid before the Assembly by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode on Tuesday.

    The low- key ceremony was devoid of all the fanfare that usually accompanied budget presentation in the state.

    Read Also: Lagos APC elders settle Ambode, House of Assembly rift

    Ambode said a total budget size of N852.31b was meant to consolidate on the economic achievements of the administration in the past three and half years.

    Recurrent Expenditure is N389.56 while Capital Expenditure of the year stands at N462.47.

    Details shortly…

  • Lagos Assembly insists Ambode must appear before it over ‘infractions’

    The Lagos State House Assembly yesterday insisted that Governor Akinwunmi Ambode and some of his commissioners it invited to explain infractions on this year’s budget must appear before it.

    The Assembly said should the infractions continue, it would apply constitutional provisions for punitive measure: impeachment.

    Majority Leader Sanai Agunbiade addressed reporters last night after an emergency parliamentary meeting by the lawmakers.

    The lawmaker said nobody was witch-hunting the governor, as being insinuated in some quarters, but that the infractions were serious issues the Assembly could not overlook.

    He said the Assembly decided to debunk the wrong information and misconception being bandied around over the Assembly’s resolutions on Ambode last Monday.

    There was a massive protest yesterday at the Assembly by concerned Lagosians against the planned impeachment of the governor.

    The situation compelled the lawmakers to go into an emergency parliamentary meeting after the protest.

    Referring to the protest, Agunbiade said the Assembly was not saying Ambode should end his tenure but that because of issues surrounding the budget, he was summoned by the Assembly.

    According to him, the major contention is that he had started spending from this year’s budget, which has not been laid before the Assembly.

    Agunbiade insisted that such action was against constitutional provisions.

    He added: “The budget is supposed to have been laid before the commencement of another fiscal year. This has always been the practice in the state. Unless it is laid, you cannot spend from it. But the governor has made expenditure from the budget.

    “There are also some infractions the Assembly observed about the 2018 budget, the expenditure made outside the budget, which necessitated the invitation the Assembly extended to him and some commissioners to explain things.

    “It is not witch-hunting, as some people believe. To make expenditure from the budget, you must have laid it before the Assembly. For now, we don’t have the budget. So, you can’t spend. As legislators, we must do things properly.”

    Agunbiade also corrected some misconceptions, which he said were being tied to the Ambode issue.

    The lawmaker said it was not true that the Assembly was after Ambode because he refused to fund their campaign.

    “We want Lagos to flourish, but we cannot compromise the regulations or constitutional provisions concerning appropriation.

  • Lagos lawmakers in emergency meeting after massive pro-Ambode protest

    Lagos lawmakers have gone into an emergency meeting possibly due to massive protest on Wednesday by concerned Lagosians against alleged plans to impeach Governor Akinwunmi Ambode

    Though agenda of the meeting was not known, sources close to the Assembly said it may not be unconnected with the issue of Ambode’s impeachment over which hundreds of his admirers registered their protest at the Assembly earlier.

    The Assembly had adjourned sitting till next Monday but suddenly summoned members for an emergency meeting on Wednesday after the protest.

    Usually, pressmen are not allowed into parliamentary meetings solely for the lawmakers.

    However, anxious House correspondents hung around the Assembly’s premises for outcome of the meeting, which was still as at 7pm.

    Feelers had it that the meeting was called to deliberate on the issue of Ambode, whom the House had ordered to appear before them on Monday to defend the infractions levelled against him or faced impeachment.

    Read Also: Lagos Assembly summons Ambode over budget

    The Assembly had accused Ambode of alleged gross misconduct and spending money from the 2019 budget that had not yet been laid or approved by the House.

    Speaker Mudashiru Obasa had told members who wished Ambode should be impeached to start collecting signatures in readiness to impeach the governor.

    But hundreds of supporters loyal to Ambode stormed the Assembly to protest the planned impeachment on Wednesday’s morning.

    The protesters, in their number marched to the Assembly and caused traffic gridlock.

    The protesters carried placards, saying that any move to impeach Ambode would disrupt the coming election, adding that the governor should be allowed to complete his tenure.

    The protesters said the governor did not deserve the treatment he was getting from the party, saying they should leave the governor alone.

    The House of Assembly had moved to impeach Ambode over what they called gross misconduct and spending part of the 2019 budget that had not been presented to the Assembly for approval.

    They gave the governor one week to appear before the House to explain the infractions levelled against him.

    The protesters, under the aegis of the Lagos People’s Assembly (LPA), said as a critical civil society stakeholder in the Lagos Project, they were gravely concerned with the unfolding political drama in the state which might degenerate to a logjam if not handled with the best of statesmanship kits.

    “We are fully conscious of the historical truism that under a constitutional democracy, the executive and legislative arms of government must seamlessly work in harmony to deliver the dividends of democracy for the people.

    ‘’Both arms are equal partners in the business of constitutional, democratic governance.’’

  • Breaking: Protesters besiege Lagos Assembly over alleged Ambode’s impeachment plot

    A group of protesters on Wednesday stormed the Lagos State House of Assembly to protest against the planned impeachment of  Governor Akinwunmi Ambode.

    The protesters are seen carrying banners with inscriptions of their agitations, saying ‘No to impeachment’.

    The assembly had accused Ambode of gross misconduct, not signing into law the 2019 budget among other infractions.

    Details shortly…

     

  • Lagos Assembly summons Ambode over budget

    The Lagos State House of Assembly yesterday urged Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to appear before it within one week on the controversy concerning this year’s budget.

    The year’s Appropriation Bill has not been presented to the lawmakers, causing hot disagreement between the Executive and the Legislature.

    Last month, the governor sent the budget to the Assembly against the tradition of laying it before the Assembly.

    Speaker Mudashiru Obasa told his colleagues at yesterday’s plenary that it was important to give the governor a fair hearing on the budget.

    The Speaker recalled that there had been violations of the Constitution and alleged infractions by the governor.

    He said: “The Attorney General, the Finance Commissioner and Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, who ought to have advised the governor did not do so.

    “The most important thing is that we should let the people know that a budget that was yet to be approved was being spent. This was why we could not attend to the governor on the budget on January 21.

    “We must give them a fair hearing to come and explain what happened. The point has been made that there must be something before the Assembly before you can commence expenditure. We want to call on the governor to come within a week to explain himself along with the other officials.

    “We can start gathering signatures for impeachment. We can exercise patience and wait till another time.”

    The lawmakers were reacting to a report presented by Deputy Speaker Wasiu Eshinlokun-Sanni as the Chairman of the committee set up to examine issues surrounding the 2019 budget at a parliamentary meeting of the lawmakers.

    Members of the Committee included the Chairman of the House Committee on Public Accounts (State), Moshood Oshun; the Chairman of the House Committee on Budget and Economic Planning, Gbolahan Yishawu; the Chairman of the House Committee on the Environment, Dayo Saka-Fafunmi and the Chairman of the House Committee on Works and Infrastructure, Abiodun Tobun.

    Eshinlokun said the committee met with relevant commissioners and heads of agencies, including the Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Segun Banjo, who said no money had been spent in this year’s budget.

    The lawmaker said the Accountant General told the committee that a warrant had been issued that they could spend up to 25 per cent of the preceding year’s budget before the approval of the new year’s appropriation.

    He said they would liaise with the Assembly if they wanted to spend up to N200 million.

    Eshinlokun said: “We pointed out that the governor ought to lay the budget of the New Year before December 31, but that so far the budget was yet to be laid.

    “We asked them to bring out the law that allows them to spend up to 25 per cent of the budget of the preceding year. They could not bring out such a law and we said what they did was wrong.

    “We discovered that people had started receiving alerts and this has a grave implication for the Executive.

    “It is our finding that for smooth running of the government, there must be a strict adherent to the constitution, and it must not be violated.

    “We decided to bring the report before the lawmakers for us to take action.”

    Yishawu said the Committee on Budget discovered during the budget review that there was specific expenditure that should have been approved by the Assembly on which funds were expended.

    The lawmaker averred that these were misnomers, and that the Assembly noticed variation in the expenditure and budget approved.

    “We had issues of virement and funds being spent without approval. We had cases of items that were not budgeted for being carried out. It shows the executive rewrite the budget at will.

    “The Constitution states that the House of Assembly must approve all expenditures,” he added.

    Most of the lawmakers expressed surprise and worry about the development.

    They stressed that the governor and members of the State Executive Council (Exco) were committing glaring constitutional breaches which might lead to serious consequences.

    According to them, things are shutting down in the state through the action of the Executive.

    Read also: NBA orders court boycott

    Other lawmakers who contributed to the issue included Tunde Braimoh, Rotimi Olowo, Moshood Oshun, Richard Kasunmu, Rasheed Makinde, Yinka Ogundimu, Sola Giwa and Victor Akande.

    Others are: Fatai Mojeed, Jude Idimogu, Noheem Raheem, Fatai Oluwa, Oladele Adekanye, Sabur Olayiwola, Akeem Shokunle and Mosunmola Sangodara.

    Funmilayo Tejuosho, Setonji David, Dayo Saka-Fafunmi, Mojisola Miranda, Dayo Famakinwa, Saka Solaja, Lanre Ogunyemi and Folajinmi Mohammed expressed dismay at the development.

    Omotayo Oduntan (Deputy Whip) “Today is a sad day. The executive just moved money from one ministry to another without recourse to the Assembly. When all these happen, it shows a total disregard to the budget being passed by the House. We should get across to the Governor to explain himself or else we should begin an impeachment process.

    But Majority Leader Sanai Agunbiade said: “There are three arms of government of which the Executive is one. Our government is still running and not shut down. What we want to do is to ensure that the infraction from one arm of government does not affect another.

    “It is clear that the budget has not been presented before the Assembly. My colleagues have addressed all the issues. We should let the public know that we do not have the budget before the Assembly.”

    The lawmakers made three suggestions.

    The first is that the commissioners, who were approved by the Assembly and are working with the governor would have a vote of no confidence passed on them because they have allegedly failed in their responsibilities.

    The next is for the governor to resign or the Assembly should begin an impeachment process against him.

    “We can communicate to him to reign or failure to do that is for us to start collecting signatures of lawmakers so that we can be seeing to have done our job,” Agunbiade said.

    Chief Whip Rotimi Abiru said: “I want to adopt what has been done without wasting much time. There have been some infractions on the part of the governor and the position of the law is clear.”

    Deputy Majority Leader Wahab Jimoh said: “I saw this coming like an ocean surge. The Attorney General wrote the House to withdraw the private member bills before the House. I had been noticing that there would be a crisis. The report I saw with the Deputy Speaker shows that the 2019 budget is being implemented.