820 bus probe: Ambode sues Lagos State House of Assembly members

[Edoman]

820 bus probe: Ambode sues Lagos State House of Assembly members






Akinwunmi Ambode, the former governor of Lagos state, has filed a suit against the state House of Assembly over the ongoing probe of procurement of 820 buses by his administration.
 
In the court papers filed before Justice Y.A Adesanya of the Lagos High Court, Ambode through his counsel, Tayo Oyetibo, said contrary to claims made by members of the state Assembly, the controversial 820 buses were procured based on budgetary approval as part of the Bus Reform Project of the State Government designed to revolutionize public transportation in line with global best practices.
 

“In section 1 of the Bill, the 1st Defendant (House of Assembly) authorized the total Budget for the year 2018 to be One Trillion, Forty Six Billion, One Hundred and Twenty One Million, One Hundred and Eighty-One Thousand, Six Hundred and Eighty Naira (N1,046,121,181,680.00) comprising the sum of Three Hundred and Forty Seven Billion, Thirty-Eighty Million, Nine Hundred and Thirty-Eight Thousand, Eight-Hundred and Seventy-Two Naira (N347,038,938,872.00) only and Six Hundred and Ninety-Nine Billion, Eighty-Two Million, Two Hundred and Forty-Two Thousand, Eight Hundred and Eighty Naira (N699,082,242,808.00) only as the Recurrent and Capital Expenditures respectively.
“Part of the items authorized by the Bill under Capital Expenditure was: “LAGBUS Public Transport Infrastructure (MEPB); Part financing of 820 buses” which was item 8 under schedule 1- Part C of the Bill,” the former Governor stated.

 
Ambode in the court papers, said the lawmakers were set to embarass him as the committee set up to investigate the 820 buses is filled with persons that are bent to destroy and tarnish his image. He added that the House falsely claimed that an invitation had been extended to him to appear before the Committee but that he failed to honour the said invitation.

“On Thursday 10th October, 2019, the 4th and 5th Defendants (Mojeed and Yishawu) who are Chairman and member of the Committee respectively set up by the 1st Defendant pursuant to the provisions of section 129 of the Constitution again raised on the floor of the House an allegation that the Claimant (Ambode) was invited to appear before the Committee but that he failed to do so whereupon the 2nd Defendant (Speaker) ruled that a warrant of arrest would be issued against the Claimant if he refuses to appear before the Committee.
“The Claimant states that no letter of invitation was delivered to him before the 4th and 5th Defendants made the false allegation against the Claimant which was widely reported by various national Newspapers in the country.
“Further to the foregoing paragraphs, the 1st Defendant had also invited some of the former Commissioners who served under my Government to appear before the 1st Defendant on Tuesday 15th October 2019. These included former Commissioners for Energy, Agriculture and Economic Planning and Budget respectively amongst others.
“After the proceedings of the Committee on 15th October 2019, the 1st Defendant represented to the public that the former Commissioners that appeared before it had indicted me in their testimonies. The information was widely published by National newspapers on Wednesday 16th October 2019.
“Contrary to the information made to the public by the 1st Defendant, the said former Commissioners for Energy and Economic Planning and Budget who were represented by the 1st Defendant to have indicted me, made public statements on Thursday 17th October 2019 denying that they ever indicted me in their testimonies before the Committee. The denials were widely published by online newspapers on Thursday 17th October 2019 and national newspapers on Friday 18th October 2019.
“The 1st Defendant falsely represented to the public that the said Commissioners indicted me in their testimonies before the Committee so as to justify my indictment by the 1st Defendant which indictment members of the 1st Defendant had hitherto threatened to carry out,” Ambode stated

 
The former governor in the court papers averred that the court that the entire members of the state Assembly had already adjudged him as having committed wastage of public fund by the procurement of the buses in question and had also already determined that the procurement was done by him as opposed to the State Government.
 
The governor asked the court to declare that the power of the House to pass a resolution under section 128(1) of the Constitution to cause an inquiry into his conduct as Governor is subject to right to fair hearing as guaranteed by section 36(1) of the Constitution.
 
He also wants a declaration that the Resolution of the House setting up a 9-Man Committee comprising of the 4th-12th Defendants to investigate all transactions in respect of the 820 Buses said by the defendants to have been procured by him derogates from his right as guaranteed by section 36(1) of the Constitution and therefore is unconstitutional, null and void.
 
Other claims are:
 

“A DECLARATION that having regard to the provisions of sections 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the Appropriation Law of Lagos State 2018, sections 8 and 9 of the Law which required the approval of the House of Assembly of Lagos State before certain expenditure of money is incurred by the Executive Branch of the State is not in accord with any provision of the Constitution and accordingly is unconstitutional, null and void.
“A DECLARATION that it is not lawful for the Defendants to represent or continue to represent to the Public that the Claimant, AKINWUNMI AMBODE, procured 820 buses in breach of budgetary approval.
“A DECLARATION that the powers of the 1st Defendant under sections 103, 128 and 129 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended does not include power to indict the Claimant as contemplated by sections 66(1)(h), 137(1)i and 182(1)i of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended.
“AN INJUNCTION restraining the Defendants whether by themselves, their servants, agents and or representatives from compelling the Claimant, in any manner whatsoever, to appear before the Defendants pursuant to the Resolution passed by the Defendants on 27th August 2019 or any other Resolution passed in respect of the subject matter of this Suit.
“AN INJUNCTION restraining the Defendants whether by themselves, their servants, agents and or representatives from representing or continue to represent to the Public that the Claimant, AKINWUNMI AMBODE, procured 820 buses in breach of budgetary approval.”

 
Meanwhile the court has ordered the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, to appear before it tomorrow morning October 30th. Others to appear before the court are House Clerk, Mr A.A Sanni; Chairman of the Ad hoc Committee set up by the House to probe the procurement, Fatai Mojeed and members of the Committee, Gbolahan Yishawu, A.A Yusuff, Yinka Ogundimu, Mojisola Lasbat Meranda, M.L Makinde, Kehinde Joseph, T.A Adewale and O.S Afinni.

by 

[Edoman]

Court orders Lagos State assembly to halt probe of Akinwunmi Ambode






The Lagos High Court in Ikeja has ordered the Lagos State House of Assembly to stop the probe of former Governor Akinwunmi Ambode pending the determination of the case filed by the former governor against the Assembly. 
 
The court adjourned the matter brought before it by Ambode, against the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa in connection with the ongoing probe of procurement of 820 buses by Ambode’s administration.  
 
Justice Adesanya adjourned till 20th of November, 2019 for the respondents in the matter to respond to the plaintiff’s application. Adesanya had on 29th, October 2019 ordered the Speaker and some members of State House of Assembly to appear before the court after hearing a motion ex-parte moved by Ambode’s lawyer, Tayo Oyetibo (SAN).  
 
Other defendants are the Clerk of the House, A. A. Sanni, who signed the newspaper ads, inviting Ambode to the House by 2pm; Chairman of the Ad hoc Committee set up by the House to probe the procurement, Fatai Mojeed; and members of the Committee: Gbolahan Yishawu, A. A. Yusuff, Yinka Ogundimu, Mojisola Lasbat Meranda, M. L. Makinde, Kehinde Joseph, T. A. Adewale and O. S.    
 
The lead counsel to the respondents, Adenike Oshinowo prayed the court to give them time to respond to the application because it was received late.

“We were served the notice very late yesterday and we shall be opposing the application and we are asking for a date to regularise our processes,” she said.

Following the adjournment at the instance of both counsel, Justice Adesanya, also ordered the parties to maintain the status quo pending the outcome of the case. The former Governor had instituted a suit against the Assembly to contest the constitutionality of the probe of the buses which were procured based on budgetary approval as part of the Bus Reform Project of the State Government designed to revolutionize public transportation.  
 
According to his statement of claim before the court, Ambode said contrary to deliberate misrepresentation of facts by the lawmakers, the procurement of the 820 buses was well captured in the 2018 Appropriation Law which was duly approved by the House.

“In section 1 of the Bill, the 1st Defendant (House of Assembly) authorized the total Budget for the year 2018 to be One Trillion, Forty Six Billion, One Hundred and Twenty One Million, One Hundred and Eighty-One Thousand, Six Hundred and Eighty Naira (N1,046,121,181,680.00) comprising the sum of Three Hundred and Forty Seven Billion, Thirty-Eighty Million, Nine Hundred and Thirty-Eight Thousand, Eight-Hundred and Seventy-Two Naira (N347,038,938,872.00) only and Six Hundred and Ninety-Nine Billion, Eighty-Two Million, Two Hundred and Forty-Two Thousand, Eight Hundred and Eighty Naira (N699,082,242,808.00) only as the Recurrent and Capital Expenditures respectively.  
“Part of the items authorized by the Bill under Capital Expenditure was: “LAGBUS Public Transport Infrastructure (MEPB); Part financing of 820 buses” which was item 8 under schedule 1- Part C of the Bill,” he said.

He added that having prescribed the manner of withdrawal of funds in sections 3 and 4 of the 2018 Appropriation Law, it was unconstitutional for the House to attach another condition in section 9 of the law for further approval to be sought before incurring any expenditure on the purchase of the buses.  
Highlighting the specific breach of his constitutional rights to fair hearing by the House, the former Governor said on August 27, 2019 during proceedings of the Assembly, some lawmakers thoroughly vilified and disparaged him as having purchased the buses without budgetary approval and that the procurement was a waste of public funds, while at the end of the proceedings, the House resolved to constitute an Ad Hoc Committee to probe the procurement.  
He said it was surprising that the very lawmakers who contributed actively in vilifying, disparaging and denigrating him constituted the bulk of the members of the Committee, which was a clear derogation of his right to fair hearing. Ambode added that in continuation of deliberate misrepresentation of facts of the issue, the House falsely claimed that an invitation had been extended to him to appear before the Committee but that he failed to honour the said invitation.

“On Thursday 10th October, 2019, the 4th and 5th Defendants (Mojeed and Yishawu) who are Chairman and member of the Committee respectively set up by the 1st Defendant pursuant to the provisions of section 129 of the Constitution again raised on the floor of the House an allegation that the Claimant (Ambode) was invited to appear before the Committee but that he failed to do so whereupon the 2nd Defendant (Speaker) ruled that a warrant of arrest would be issued against the Claimant if he refuses to appear before the Committee.  
“The Claimant states that no letter of invitation was delivered to him before the 4th and 5th Defendants made the false allegation against the Claimant which was widely reported by various national Newspapers in the country.
“Further to the foregoing paragraphs, the 1st Defendant had also invited some of the former Commissioners who served under my government to appear before the 1st Defendant on Tuesday 15th October 2019. These included former Commissioners for Energy, Agriculture and Economic Planning and Budget respectively among others.  
“After the proceedings of the Committee on 15th October 2019, the 1st Defendant represented to the public that the former Commissioners that appeared before it had indicted me in their testimonies. The information was widely published by National newspapers on Wednesday 16th October 2019.  
“Contrary to the information made to the public by the 1st Defendant, the said former Commissioners for Energy and Economic Planning and Budget who were represented by the 1st Defendant to have indicted me, made public statements on Thursday 17th October 2019 denying that they ever indicted me in their testimonies before the Committee. The denials were widely published by online newspapers on Thursday 17th October 2019 and national newspapers on Friday 18th October 2019.  
“The 1st Defendant falsely represented to the public that the said Commissioners indicted me in their testimonies before the Committee so as to justify my indictment by the 1st Defendant which indictment members of the 1st Defendant had hitherto threatened to carry out,” Ambode averred.

He added that the House Committee and indeed the entire members of the House had already adjudged him as having committed wastage of public fund by the procurement of the buses in question and had also already determined that the procurement was done by him as opposed to the State Government.  
 
He said it was obvious that the lawmakers were totally biased against him having regard to their pronouncements on the floor of the House by reason of which he believes that his right to fair hearing as guaranteed by the Constitution had been seriously compromised by the defendants. He is, therefore, seeking among others, the court’s declaration that the power of the House to pass a resolution under section 128(1) of the Constitution to cause an inquiry into his conduct as Governor is subject to right to fair hearing as guaranteed by section 36(1) of the Constitution.  
 
He also wants a declaration that the Resolution of the House setting up a 9-Man Committee comprising of the 4th-12th Defendants to investigate all transactions in respect of the 820 Buses said by the defendants to have been procured by him derogates from his right as guaranteed by section 36(1) of the Constitution and therefore is unconstitutional, null and void.

[Edoman]

Lagos State House of Assembly suspends probe of Akinwunmi Ambode indefinitely






The ad-hoc committee set up by the Lagos State House of Assembly to investigate all transactions in respect of the 820 buses procured by the immediate past administration of Akinwunmi Ambode has suspended its sitting indefinitely.  
 
The lawmakers’ decision came following Wednesday’s ruling by an Ikeja Division of the Lagos State High Court ordering all parties in a suit filed by Ambode against the lawmakers to maintain status quo, while it adjourned till November 20 for the next hearing.
 
Addressing journalists shortly after a brief sitting by the committee to announce its decision, its chairman, Fatai Mojeed, said the matter was adjourned indefinitely as the committee got a court order to stay action on the matter and that they had to respect the opinion of the court.  
 
“We are lawmakers, we are not law breakers, which was why we had to adjourn the matter indefinitely. The people of Lagos should be expecting more from us,” he said. Also speaking, Gbolahan Yishawu said the House was not trying to witch-hunt anybody or put anybody on the spot for any reason.
 
Yishawu stressed that the assembly was not being pushed by any individual on the matter, while recalling that the issue dated back to 2017, when it was included in the appropriation law but was not approved by the House.  
 
However, Olaniran Obele from the chambers of Tayo Oyetibo, the counsel to Mr Ambode, expressed dismay that they were not allowed into the committee room and could not confirm if they sat. Obele, however, welcomed the decision of the committee to suspend further sitting on the matter based on the High Court ruling.
 
He said he was at the assembly to drop a letter stating reasons why the former governor could no longer honour the summon as a result of the court ruling.  “The former governor was invited by the ad hoc committee to appear before it today,” said Mr Obele.

“We came to represent Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, but the officials of the House of Assembly, in a military manner, prevented us from entering the Committee room. You saw what transpired at the committee level, we were not allowed to go in.  
“There is a matter pending in court and this afternoon, the court said the status quo should be maintained, that nothing should be done. We brought processes from the court and letters to serve on the Chairman of the Committee and the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly but they refused to accept validly issued court documents and letter conveying what the court has said to them”, Mr Obele said.  
Part of the content of the letter read thus: “In the circumstances, we request that further proceedings of the committee, and indeed the entire House, in respect of the subject matter of the suit, be adjourned to wait the outcome of the court proceedings so as not to bring the House in collision with the court as the matter is now subjudice.  
“Finally, we wish to inform you that since the constitutionality of the proceedings of the committee is being challenged in the civil Suit, our client will not be able to appear before the committee until the matter is decided by the court in order not to prejudice the fair hearing of his case.”