Politics
2023 Appropriation Bill Scales Second Reading At Lagos Assembly
– Lawmakers summon state’s top officials over demolition plot
Members of the Lagos State House of Assembly have read for the second time the Appropriation Bill for 2023 presented by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu recently.
With the Bill scaling the second reading, Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. (Dr) Mudashiru Obasa, committed it to a joint committees on Budget and Finance with a mandate to report back to the House on December 12.
Governor Sanwo-Olu had on Thursday, October 29 presented the 2023 Appropriation Bill of ₦1,692,670,759894 titled ‘Budget of Continuity’ to the House.
At plenary on Tuesday, the lawmakers described the proposed budget as achievable while suggesting other areas through which the government could generate more funds.
Hon. Gbolahan Yishawu, chairman of the House Committee on Economic Planning and Budget, gave details of the Appropriation Bill while some of his colleagues commended the Executive Arm over the proposal.
Meanwhile, the House of Assembly has summoned Moruf-Akinderu Fatai, Commissioner for Housing, and Mr. Oluwatobi Lawal, Managing Director of the Lagos Building Investment Company (LBIC) over allegations of a planned demolition of some houses in the Jakande Estate area of Eti-Osa.
Also summoned as the affected residents of the estate.
The issue was raised under ‘Matter of Urgent Public Importance’ by Hon. Noheem Adams, Deputy Majority Leader of the House.
Hon. Adams told his colleagues that the residents, aged between 70 and 80, stormed his house in the early hours of Tuesday pleading that the government should be stopped from demolishing their houses.
He recalled that majority of the residents lived in Maroko before their houses were demolished in the 1990s and they were relocated to the Jakande Estate.
He said the residents had lived peacefully until recently when they started facing threats of their building being demolished.
He said the residents had written a petition addressed to the Speaker and that their collective grievance was already being addressed by the House Committee on Public Petitions headed by Hon. Victor Akande.
He added that on September 23, 2022, some members of the House led by Hon. Akande visited the Jakande Estate with some officials from the LBIC, who had promised that they would not demolish buildings in the area.
“However on October 12, officials of the LBIC went to the estate to mark houses for demolition,” he said.
In his contribution, Hon. Rotimi Olowo said the situation with the residents was pathetic. He said the parties are supposed to reach mutual understanding because the owners of the estate had invested heavily in the place.
Olowo was supported by his colleague, Hon. Adewale Temitope, who urged for an amicable resolution of the issue.
Speaker Obasa, before approving the invitation of the commissioner and the LBIC boss, noted said there was need to understand the position of the government before a decision is taken on the issue.
He also agreed that there should be collaboration and understanding between the property owners and the government.
The Rivers State House of Assembly, led by Speaker Martin Amaewhule, has initiated impeachment proceedings against Governor Siminalayi Fubara and Deputy Ngozi Odu, issuing them a seven-day notice to respond to allegations of gross misconduct.
The Assembly cited eight specific allegations of gross misconduct as the basis for the move.
This is the third time Fubara and Odu would be facing impeachment proceedings from the Assembly since coming to office in 2023.
Attempts to impeach them in 2023 and 2025, amid political feuds between the Governor and his predecessor and erstwhile political god-father, now Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, had been halted by presidential intervention.
Here are the allegations below:
1. Reckless and unconstitutional expenditure of public funds
2. Unconstitutional misappropriation of public funds
3. Hindering the Rivers Assembly from performing its constitutional duties
4. Illegal appointments of persons without screening by the House of Assembly as provided by the Constitution
5. Seizure of salaries and funds meant for Assembly members
6. Seizure of salaries of the clerk of the Rivers House of Assembly, Emeka Amadi
7. Refusal to implement provisions of the Constitution on financial autonomy of the legislature and the judiciary
8. Withholding of funds meant for the running of the Rivers House of Assembly Service Commission and hindering its activities
Lilian Adebayo, the wife of the 2023 presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party, has said that the party will unseat the ruling All Progressive Party at the 2027 election if Nigerians are true to themselves.
Mrs Adebayo made this assertion known on Wednesday during an interview with journalists after an event in Abuja.
According to her, the opposition party has overcome its crisis after the expulsion of its former chairman, Shehu Gabam and others.
She said Nigerians should vote the APC out in the 2027 general election due to the hardship the party has plunged citizens into.
“There is always a crisis in the party; the SPD has been able to handle its own. The problems in the party have been resolved.
“He has a great chance of winning the election if Nigerians are honest with themselves. If Nigerians think that the ones they consistently vote for would move the country forward, they live in denial,” she concerning the husband.
Recall that SDP recently expelled Gabam and other party executives.
The party’s state chairmen on Wednesday urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the police to investigate Gabam over alleged misappropriation.
In a significant political move, Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah officially defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Tuesday, October 14, 2025.
Mbah announced his decision during a televised broadcast in Enugu after weeks of speculation.
He said, “Today, after a long reflection, we have made the decision to leave the Peoples Democratic Party and join the All Progressives Congress.”
Mbah explained that his decision to join the PDP was informed by the need to reshape Enugu and reorganise the politics of the state.
“Today, I stand before you to announce a break from the past and to share a decision that will shape the road ahead. This concerns our values, how we organize ourselves politically and how we secure the future of our project and our people.
“Leadership sometimes demands painful decisions in the service of higher principles and goals. And there comes a time, when everyone must make a bold choice to determine their destiny.”
Ahead of the governor’s defection, all members of his cabinet had on joined the ruling party.
Governor Mbah’s Senior Media Aide, Dan Nwomeh, confirmed the mass defection in a video posted on his social media handles on Monday. In the video, several government officials were seen openly declaring their allegiance to the APC, chanting praises for President Bola Tinubu and affirming their commitment to the new party.
“Enugu State Cabinet Members join the APC with full chest along with Governor PN Mbah,” Nwomeh stated.
The officials, including commissioners and top aides, could be heard in the video declaring, “We are now in APC; tomorrow is here; it is APC all the way; it is Jagaban all the way; from top to bottom.”
The collective defection marks a significant political shift in Enugu State, which has been a PDP stronghold since 1999.
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