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.
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