Society Gists

The Lagos State House of Assembly has inaugurated a committee to probe the administration of ex-Governor Akinwunmi Ambode over the purchase of buses worth N45 billion allegedly without the approval of the House.

As part of its mandate, the Honorable Fatai Mojeed-led committee is mandated to probe the purchase of 820 buses that had been scheduled for public transport in the state.

The House said it was important to investigate the purchase of the 820 buses out of the 5,000 buses proposed by Ambode for mass transit because the lawmakers objected to the idea originally.

In a motion titled, ‘Lagos State House of Assembly Motion Number 2, member representing Eti Osa 2, Gbolahan Yishawu, stated that the executive proposed to spend N17bn to purchase the buses in the 2017 budget, which was not approved by the Assembly.

“In the 2018 and 2019 budgets, the state government proposed N24bn and N7bn respectively, but these were not approved.

“The state government still went ahead to import 820 buses at N7bn, and out of them, 520 are still awaiting clearance at the ports,” he said.

He added that the House was worried that 520 buses were still awaiting clearance from the bonded warehouse and that they were purchased with taxpayers’ money without approval.