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Again, Lagos Assembly Invites Ambode, Lists His Five ‘Deadly Sins’
The Lagos State House of Assembly has listed five ‘sins’ allegedly committed by a former governor of the state, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode.
The ‘sins’ include alleged unauthorised discounting of promissory note and purchase of 820 buses without due authorisation.
The Assembly, therefore, asked the former governor to appear before it by 1pm on Wednesday.
This made it the second time the governor was summoned.
He was first summoned about two weeks ago alongside former government officials, including the former commissioners for Finance, Economic Planning, Justice and Attorney General, and Permanent Secretary, Economic Planning.
The House had set up an ad hoc committee to investigate some financial misappropriation during the Ambode administration.
However, according to a statement by the House, Ambode and the former government officials refused to appear before the House committee.
The House has now issued another invite to the former governor, as contained in an advert in some national dailies, including Sunday PUNCH.
The invite was titled, ‘Notice of summons: Mr Akinwunmi Ambode (the former Governor of Lagos State),’ and signed by the Clerk of the House, Mr A. A. Sanni.
In the new summon, the former governor was reminded of the importance of appearing before the House to shed light on a five-point infraction raised by the Assembly.
The fresh notice stated, “The Lagos State House of Assembly, pursuant to Section 129 (1)(c) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) hereby summons His Excellency, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, the former Governor of Lagos State (May, 2015 – May, 2019) to appear before the Committee of the House on Wednesday, October 30, 2019 at the Lateef Jakande Auditorium, Assembly Complex, Alausa, Ikeja by 1 pm.”
Ambode was asked to appear to clarify the following: (1) Unauthorised discounting of promissory note; (2) Purchase of 820 buses by his administration without due authorisation; (3) Misappropriation of Special Expenditure Funds; (4) Improper implementation of the Appropriation Law; and (5) Non-adherence to the Financial Regulations of the state.
The notice urged the former governor to provide the Assembly’s committee with documents to justify that the above transactions did not violate constitutional provisions.
It read, “You are kindly requested to furnish the committee with 15 copies each of all relevant document(s) relating to the issues raised through the Office of the Clerk of the House on or before Tuesday, October 29, 2019.
“It is pertinent to state that your presence at the proposed meeting would give you the opportunity to shed light on issues that are material to the investigation.”
Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had in August raided the Epe country home and Parkview Ikoyi residence of the former governor.
He had also denied that certain accounts said to have been frozen by the EFCC were linked to him, adding that no account of his contained N9.9bn as the said accounts belonged to the state government.
The state Assembly had set up a committee to investigate the purchase of 820 buses out of the 5,000 buses proposed by the embattled former governor because the lawmakers had originally objected to the idea.
In a motion titled, ‘Lagos State House of Assembly Motion Number 2,’ the member representing Eti Osa 2, Gbolahan Yishawu, stated that the then administration proposed to spend N17bn to purchase the buses in the 2017 budget, which was not approved by the Assembly.
Meanwhile, efforts to speak with the media aide to the former governor, Mr Habib Aruna, proved abortive as he had not picked calls or responded to a text message sent to his mobile telephone number as of the time of filing this report.
The Punch
The Super Eagles of Nigeria defeated Egypt 4-2 on penalties to win the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2025 third-place playoff on Saturday.
Goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali proved the hero of the night with two crucial saves during the shootout, including one from Egyptian star Mohamed Salah.
Ademola Lookman then calmly converted the decisive penalty to secure the bronze medal —Nigeria’s ninth third-place finish in AFCON history.
With neither side able to break the deadlock in a cagey second half, the game ended 0-0, sending the contest directly to penalties.
Despite Fisayo Dele-Bashiru missing Nigeria’s first kick, Nwabali’s immediate saved from Egypt’s first two attempts shifted the momentum.
The Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal of the son of a former Jigawa State governor, challenging the decision of the trial court, which convicted him for failing to declare $40,000 at Kano airport.
In a unanimous decision, the apex court panel dismissed the appeal of Aminu Sule Lamido, the son of former governor Sule Lamido, for lack of merit.
Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested Aminu on December 11, 2012, at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport while preparing to travel to Cairo, Egypt.
The prosecution said Aminu declared $10,000 to the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), but was found with an additional $40,000, which was not disclosed on his currency declaration form.
The EFCC charged him before the Federal High Court in Kano on a one-count offence of false declaration of foreign currency, contrary to provisions of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act.
On July 12, 2015, the court convicted Aminu and ordered him to forfeit 25 per cent of the undeclared sum to the Federal government.
Dissatisfied with the ruling, Aminu approached the Court of Appeal in Kaduna to overturn the conviction and set aside the forfeiture order.
In a judgment delivered on December 7, 2015, however, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has ordered that the trial of former governor Lamido, his two sons, and others, over alleged N1.35billion fraud, should continue before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
A five-member panel of the apex court issued the directive in two unanimous judgments, in the two appeals filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The Supreme Court upheld the decision of the trial court, which dismissed the no-case submission filed by the Lamidos and held that the defendants had a case to answer.
Both appeals were against the July 25, 2023, judgments of the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which upheld the no-case submission made by Lamido and others and struck out the 37-count charge on which they were being prosecuted, on the grounds that the Federal High Court in Abuja lacked the jurisdiction to hear the case.
In the lead judgments of the Supreme Court, Justice Abubakar Umar set aside the July 25, 2023 judgments of the Court of Appeal and affirmed the earlier decision by Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the Federal High Court, Abuja, which overruled the no-case submissions by Lamido and others and ordered them to enter their defence.
The EFCC, in the 37-count charge, among others, accused Lamido of abusing his position as a governor between 2007 and 2015, allegedly laundering sums of money received as kickbacks from companies that were awarded contracts by the Jigawa State Government under his leadership.
The other defendants charged alongside Lamido are his two sons – Aminu and Mustapha; Aminu Wada Abubakar and their companies – Bamaina Holdings Ltd and Speeds International Ltd.
