…Lawmakers Plead For Time As Court Adjourns Till Nov 20
BY ADEYEMI ROBINSON-ADEFIOYE LAGOS
The Lagos State House of Assembly on Wednesday agreed to halt proceedings in the probe of former Governor of the State, MR. AKINWUNMI AMBODE, over procurement of 820 buses for public transportation.
AMBODE had instituted a suit against the Assembly, the Speaker, MUDASHIRU OBASA and others, to contest the constitutionality of the probe, accusing them of bias and misrepresentation of facts.
When the matter came up in court on Wednesday morning, AMBODE’S lawyer, MR. TAYO OYETIBO (SAN), informed the court of his pending application for interlocutory injunction, saying that same had been served on the defendants.
In response, a team of lawyers of the defendants led by MRS. ADENIKE OSHINOWO and included MRS. ADEGBITE and MS. OLAYEMI JOHNSON confirmed service of the application, but pleaded for time since the processes were served at about 6pm on Tuesday.
They specifically requested for two weeks to respond but the date they suggested was not convenient for the court.
Responding, OYETIBO did not object to the application of the defendants for adjournment but urged the Court to direct parties to maintain status quo. In her response, the presiding Judge, JUSTICE YETUNDE ADESANYA, said “it goes without saying” and called on MRS. OSINOWO for her response who also agreed that status quo would be maintained by the Defendants.
The court then adjourned the matter to November 20 2019 for the hearing of the motion on Notice for interlocutory injunction.
With the ruling, the former Governor cannot be summoned to appear again before the House probe panel as both parties have agreed to maintain status quo till the new hearing date.
According to his statement of claim before the court, AMBODE had 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,” the former Governor averred.
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.
