Lagos State lawmakers’ threat to impeach the governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, may not have much to do with non-presentation of the 2019 budget to the legislature but with his alleged sponsorship of some opposition politicians in the state.
Consequently, the legislators are alleged to have frustrated the presentation of the budget in order to deny him access to funnel funds to the opposition.
It would be recalled that Ambode lost his bid for re-election in October 2018 when the former governor of the state and national leader of Nigeria’s ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Bola Tinubu and members of the state legislature refused to back him for a second term because he deviated from the master plan created for the development of the state.
“Whenever a government departed from this plan without (a) compelling reason, the state and its people have borne the painful consequence of the improper departure,” said Tinubu.
Besides, the governor and the House publicly disagreed over the engagement of Visionscape, a private foreign-owned waste management company, contracted to manage waste disposal in the state.
The new arrangement meant the governor dumped the LAWMA-Private Sector Partnership (PSP) arrangement put together by his predecessor, Babatunde Fashola.
In the course of that, many APC members who benefitted from the arrangement were put out of business.
Moreover, Visionscape proved to be incapable of functioning where the PSP operators had enjoyed moderate success.
The state assembly finally found its voice in May 2018 through the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, who described Visionscape as a ghost organization in the state, insisting that the organization would not be recognized by the House.
“We are seriously working on it and the PSP will soon return. Visionscape remains unknown in Lagos State, it is a ghost in the state and we are not going to embrace it,” said Obasa.
Eventually, the PSP-operators were ordered back to work by the Assembly.
A combination of all this made Tinubu and the legislators to queue behind Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu as the governorship candidate for the 2019 election.
A senior staff in the state civil service who craved anonymity told The Guardian that the lawmakers may have deliberately frustrated the governor by not allowing him to present the budget.
“He is suspected of funding some opposition members in the coming general elections.
“By not allowing him to present the budget, they believe he won’t have access to funds to bankroll the opposition,” said the source.
The source insisted that Ambode may not be allowed to present the budget until after the elections or he can only present the budget after the assembly resumes on February 4.
In the same breath, it was gathered that legislators were considering the impeachment of the governor for his failure to present the 2019 budget to the House.
A source at the Assembly, who pleaded craved anonymity, said the House might make move to collect signatures from lawmakers to remove the governor from office if the budget is not presented soon.
It would be recalled that the commissioner for budget and economic planning, Mr. Olusegun Banjo, on January 3, said the state’s 2019 budget proposal, which the forwarded to the House of Assembly on December 24, 2018, was N852.317 billion.
But the state assembly denied receiving the spending plan because it was on a recess when the commissioner claimed the document was sent.
It was gathered that Ambode moved to present the budget on December 28, but the House was already on recess.
It was gathered from reliable sources that the governor was supposed to present the budget on January 21, but the clerk of the House, Mr. Azeez Sanni, said there was no message from Ambode to that effect.
Sources close to the governor said Ambode had contacted the lawmakers that he was set to present the budget, but was not given the opportunity.
But the politics of the budget took a twist yesterday when lawmakers summoned the governor to appear before it within one week over the 2019 budget.
The Assembly accused the governor of not presenting the budget but spending it when it had not been passed.
The Speaker of the House, Mr. Mudashiru Obasa, told lawmakers yesterday that it was important to give the governor a fair hearing.
“There have been infractions and it is obvious that the attorney-general, finance commissioner and commissioner for budget and economic planning have failed to advise the governor.
“We should let the people know that a budget that has yet to be approved is being spent, which is why we could not attend to the governor on the budget on Monday, January 21.
“We must let him come to explain what happened. You cannot commence expenditure without passing the budget. We call on the governor to come within a week to explain himself or we can start gathering signatures for impeachment,” he said.
The lawmakers had reacted to a report presented by the Deputy Speaker of the House, Wasiu Eshinlokun-Sanni.
Eshinlokun-Sanni who is the chairman of a committee set up to look into the issues surrounding the 2019 budget had reported that Banjo said no money had been spent for the year.
He added that the accountant general told the committee that warrant had been issued that they could spend up to 20 per cent of the preceding budget before the approval of the 2019 budget.
“We asked them to bring out the law that allows them to spend up to 20 per cent of the budget of the preceding year. They could not bring out such a law,” said Eshinlokun-Sanni.
