Politics
LSHA Members Pass Vote Of Confidence On Speaker Mudashiru Obasa.
Members of the Lagos State House of Assembly on Monday passed a vote of confidence on the Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa.
This confidence vote followed the presentation of the report of a nine-man fact-finding committee of the House on allegations of corruption levelled against the speaker by Sahara Reporters headed by Hon. Victor Akande (Ojo constituency 1) during plenary.
The committee was told to investigate the allegations of corruption levelled against the Speaker part of which bothered on operating 64 accounts with banks with different names.
The Speaker was also alleged to have unilaterally approved expenditure for programmes and activities in the House, and spent N258 million to print invitation cards for the inauguration of the 9th Assembly.
Sahara Reporters also alleged that the Speaker received N80 million as estacode and that his wife was collecting N10 million from the House on a monthly basis.
There were also reports that the House purchased 11 Hiace buses as well as 80 cars for the lawmakers within a year without following due process.
The committee, in its report stated that all the allegations were frivolous and that the Speaker followed due process in all his purchases.
Part of the committee’s recommendation is that the clerk of the House should begin the process of investigating the leakage of some documents to the press and bring the erring staff members to book.
The committee also recommended that the activities of the House should be digitalised for proper record keeping and monitoring.
It was then suggested that vote of confidence should be passed on Speaker Obasa having realised that the allegations against him are all false.
Hon. Setonji David (Badagry 2) moved the motion for the adoption of the recommendation of the committee and this was supported by Hon. Temitope Adewale (Ifako Ijaiye 2).
The whole members agreed with the recommendations based on a voice vote conducted by the Majority Leader of the House, Hon. Sanni Agunbiade, who acted as the Speaker during the sitting.
Earlier in his report, the committee chairman, Hon. Victor Akande, had surmarised the findings and stated that the House was concerned about the damaging allegations against the Speaker by Sahara Reporters.
He said the 9-man adhoc committee was constituted by the House to investigate the allegations made against him.
Members of the committee are Hon. Yinka Ogundimu (Agege 2), Hon. Gbolahan Yishawu (Eti Osa 2), Hon. Lukmon Olumoh (Ajeromi Ifelodun 1) and Hon. Ajani Owolabi (Lagos Mainland 1).
Others are Hon. Mojisola Alli-Macaulay (Amuwo Odofin 1), Hon. Rotimi Olowo (Shomolu 1) and Hon. Akeem Shokunle (Oshodi/Isolo 1).
The committee, Hon. Victor said, was mandated to invite Sahara Reporters and others to prove their allegations against the Speaker.
“The committee started sitting on Thursday 4th June, 2020 and we also sat on Friday 5th June and Saturday 6th June.
“Sahara Reporters, Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA), Budgit, Concerned Nigerians, Independent Diaspora Nigerians Against Corruption, Mr. Bayo Oluwasanmi of Sahara Reporters, but they did not honour the invitation.
He, however, said that all the banks invited including Ecobank, Wema Bank, Polaris and Zenith Bank denied the allegations that the speaker had multiple accounts with them with the same BVN and different names.
The lawmaker stated that the committee found that the Speaker has just one account with Ecobank, which he opened in 2007, but that the account is dormant and that the BVN quoted for Ecobank was not correct.
“The Speaker does not have multiple accounts with Ecobank, the BVN ascribed to Wemabank does not belong to him and the companies attributed to him in Wema Bank are not correct.
“Out of the 14 accounts attributed to him for Zenith Bank, only six belong to him and only two are active.
“The companies ascribed to him in Zenith Bank does not belong to him. The Deputy Speaker did not attend any trip in Dubai as against the reports of Sahara Reporters,” he said.
The committee also stated that it found out that the purchase of vehicles for the lawmakers were ratified by the Fund Management Committee (FMC) of the House in both the 8th and 9th Assemblies.
It was also revealed that the purchase of Toyota Prado and Land Cruiser cars for members were approved by the FMC and the Lagos State Public Procurement Agency (PPA).
“The purchase of operational vehicles for members of the 9th Assembly was approved by the FMC members.
“The purchase of 36 Toyota Prado and 6 Land Cruisers were budgeted for and approved by the PPA. The allegations of spending N64 Million for social media influencers was not true.
“The USA trip was attended. Only eight Hiace Buses were purchased for committee works and staff buses. Contrary to the claim of N258 million spent for printing invitation cards for the inauguration for 9th assembly as only N61 million was spent for the event and N1.1 for invitation cards.
“The facility management company in the House does not belong to the Speaker. The alleged N10 million paid to the speaker wife is not true,” he said.
Politics
Okpebholo Struggles With Figures Because He Doesn’t Know How To Steal – Edo APC Chair
Jarrett Tenebe, chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo, has defended Monday Okpebholo, governor of the state.
On Tuesday, Okpebholo stuttered before lawmakers while reading figures from his 2025 budget proposal.
The governor said the N605 billion appropriation bill represents a 25 percent increase from the 2024 budget.
“The Edo state Appropriation Bill of six billion… 605 billion… 76 million…” Okpebholo began, his hands unsteady and voice quivering in the rarefied assembly.
“Let me take it again. 506 billion… 605 billion… sorry… 776 billion… sorry, it’s confusing me.”
Okpebholo’s admission elicited laughter and murmurs in equal doses from the lawmakers.
Defending the snafu, Tenebe said Okpebholo struggles with figures because he does not know how to steal public funds.
In a video, the state’s APC chair said unlike a handful of politicians from Edo, Okpebholo is no kleptomaniac.
“The social media has been agog with the governor’s budget presentation about mistake on N605 billion and the rest of it all,” Tenebe said.
“It’s a normal thing. People make such mistakes. I don’t know figures… and that’s how to know original and innocent people.
“Monday Okpebholo is not a thief and he is not familiar with figures. Anybody who wants to talk and continue to talk is nonsense.
“He is the governor of the state, he is performing and he’ll continue to perform and anybody who does not like his face should go to hell and burn to ashes. Period!”
2025 budget proposal,Edo State,Jarrett Tenebe,Monday Okpebholo,
Politics
Labour Party Candidate Olorunfemi Blames Peter Obi For Defeat In Ondo Poll
The reinstated Labour Party governorship candidate in Ondo State, Ayodele Olorunfemi, has bemoaned his failure to win Saturday’s election, blaming former Anambra State governor, Peter Obi, and the Nigeria Labour Congress for his predicament, JomogNews Nigeria.
This Nigeria news platform understands that Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of the ruling All Progressives Congress was declared the winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission after sweeping the 18 local government areas in Ondo.
In the final declaration of the result by the State Returning Officer, Prof Olayemi Akinwumi, he said APC’s Ayedatiwa polled a total of 366,781 votes to defeat Agboola Ajayi of the PDP, who got 117,845 votes.
The Returning Officer said, “That Ayedatiwa Lucky Orimisan of APC, having satisfied the requirement of the law is hereby returned elected.”
Olorunfemi’s loss comes a few days after INEC returned his name on the ballot as LP flag bearer for the November 16 poll, following a ruling by the Court of Appeal.
Following weeks of suspense, Olorunfemi heaved a sigh of relief when the Court of Appeal in Abuja vacated an earlier judgment by the Federal High Court ordering the electoral umpire to recognise Obi’s anointed candidate, Olusola Ebiseni.
Reacting in an interview with The PUNCH, Olorunfemi vowed not to forgive the former LP presidential candidate and the NLC for the role they played in scuttling his Ondo governorship campaign.
When asked if he succeeded in having a last-minute door-to-door campaign with his supporters after winning his appeal, a saddened LP flag bearer confessed that his campaign for the election was neither here nor there.
He said, “I have Peter Obi and the NLC to thank for that. They have scuttled my aspirations and chances to win this Ondo election. These people spoilt things for us with that PDP reject they wanted to force on the party. Their insistence on having Ebiseni on the ballot ruined everything for me.
“They just capitalised on the crisis between the Labour Party and the Nigeria Labour Congress to create problems. Can you imagine that Ebiseni wrote a letter to the court in my name without my knowledge, saying I have withdrawn from the race? They cannot exclude me from such a position.”
While accepting that he knew his chances at the poll were slim after his reinstatement a few days to the poll, Olorunfemi vowed to get his pound of flesh.
The LP deputy chairman for South also threatened to petition police authorities to investigate how his name and signature were forged by Ebiseni and the NLC.
“Thank God we got an appeal judgment and my name is back in the INEC portal. The good thing here is that the truth has prevailed. Withdrawal must be voluntary. You cannot force someone to withdraw. What they have done was an attempt to force me behind my back.
“Again, it wasn’t the party that submitted it. It was the handiwork of the former President of the NLC and head of the National Transition Committee, Abduwaheed Omar. What they did is criminal.
“In fact, I am planning to petition the Inspector General of Police to probe how they wrote that letter, put my signature and presented it before the court. We will deal with that later. For now, we are still doing our underground work and doing our best for this election,” he stated.
When called to defend the allegation levelled against the workers’ union, acting Chairman of the NLC Political Commission, Prof Theophilus Ndubuaku, described Olorunfemi as a ‘very funny character.’
“He is one human being you should never take seriously. As a result of this crisis between us and Abure, Olorunfemi became the deputy to Abure and he was given the ticket. Before this election, he was a placeholder. So what did he do? He now started shopping for who would buy the ticket from him.
“In the process, they asked Ebiseni to pay N20m to get the ticket. He paid and even added another N5m which they claimed was for expenses. When they refused to give him the ticket, Ebiseni went to court. In retaliation, the Abure’s camp started working to ensure INEC didn’t upload his name because of the Kagaroo judgment they went to secure.
“The only challenge we have was that before the judgment, INEC had already given the code for uploading the names of agents to Olorunfemi. We know he would have uploaded the names of suspected APC agents there. We know he is obviously working indirectly for the APC.”
As of the time of filing this story, efforts to reach both Obi and Ebiseni for reactions were unsuccessful.
Politics
Ondo Guber: We’ll Not Disappoint You – INEC Assures Voters
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has assured Ondo voters that it would not disappoint them in the Saturday (today)’s governorship election in the state, expressing its readiness for the poll.
INEC National Commissioner Supervising Ondo, Ogun and Osun States, Professor Kunle Ajayi, stated this on Channels Television’s Politics Today in Akure, Ondo State capital, on Friday.
Ajayi said the electoral empire won’t disappoint them as they file out in their numbers to elect a new governor who will pilot the affairs of the Sunshine State for the next four years.
“We have done our own work, we are proud of what we have done and we will not disappoint the people of Ondo State,” he said.
Recall that on Thursday, INEC commenced the sensitive materials to various local government areas of Ondo State ahead of Saturday’s governorship election.
The distribution was carried out at the premises of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Alagbaka, Akure, Ondo State, under the watch of party agents, armed policemen, and several commercial buses hired by the Commission.
The INEC National Commissioner noted that unlike the September 21 governorship election in Edo State, all the registered areas in Ondo State have received their sensitive materials.
“I want to assure you that everything will go well. As of 3 pm, all the Registered Areas (RAs) all their sensitive materials. The next thing is to move to the Polling Unit (PU). I toured some of the RAs this afternoon,” he added.
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