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Ambode Probe: Lagos House Obeys Court, Suspends Sitting Indefinitely

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The Ad Hoc Committee Set up by the Lagos State House of Assembly to investigate all transactions in respect of the 820 buses procured by the immediate past administration of Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, has suspended its sitting indefinitely.

The development is coming on the heels of the Ikeja High Court ruling by Justice Y.A Adesanya on Wednesday urging all parties to maintain status quo, while it adjourned till November 20 for the next hearing.

Addressing journalists shortly after a brief sitting by the Committee to announce the adjournment, its Chairman, Hon. Fatal Mojeed said that the matter was adjourned indefinitely as the Committee got court summon to stay action on the matter and that they had to respect the opinion of the court.

“We are lawmakers we are not law breakers, which was why we had to adjourn the matter indefinitely. The people of Lagos should be expecting more from us,” he said.

Also speaking, Hon. Gbolahan Yishawu said that the House was not trying to witch hunt anybody or put anybody on the spot for any reason.

Yishawu stressed that the Assembly was not being pushed by any individual on the matter, while recalling that the issue dated back to 2017, when it was included in the appropriation law but was not approved by the House.

However, Mr. Olaniran Obele from the chambers of Mr. Tayo Oyetibo (SAN), counsel of former governor Akinwunmi Ambode, expressed dismay that they were not allowed into the committee room and could not confirm if the Committee sat.

But Obele welcomed the decision of the Committee to suspend further sitting on the matter based on the High Court ruling.

He said he was at the Assembly to drop a letter stating reasons why the former governor could no longer honour the summon as a result of the court ruling.

“The former governor was invited by the ad hoc committee to appear before it today. We came to represent Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, but the officials of the House of Assembly, in a military manner, prevented us from entering the Committee room. You saw what transpired at the committee level, we were not allowed to go in.

“There is a matter pending in court and this afternoon, the court said the status quo should be maintained, that nothing should be done. We brought processes from the court and letters to serve on the Chairman of the Committee and the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly but they refused to accept validly issued court documents and letter conveying what the court has said to them”, Obele said.

Part of the content of the letter read thus: In the circumstances, we request that further proceedings of the Committee, and indeed the entire House, in respect of the subject matter of the Suit, be adjourned to wait the outcome of the court proceedings so as not to bring the House in collision with the court as the matter is now subjudice.

“Finally, we wish to inform you that since the constitutionality of the proceedings of the Committee is being challenged in the civil Suit, our Client will not be able to appear before the committee until the matter is decided by the court in order not to prejudice the fair hearing of his case.”

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Breaking: Wike Plans to Attend Thursday’s PDP NEC Meeting

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By Eric Elezuo

The immediate past Governor of Rivers State, and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike, may have concluded plans to attend the much advertised National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), billed to hold on Thursday, in Abuja.

Impeccable source, who is in the know, told The Boss that the minister, whose membership of the PDP is yet to be revoked even as he frolicks with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), and serving in the President Bola Tinubu government as a minister.

The Source told The Boss that Wike’s impending presence at the NECeeting on Thursday is not unconnected with plans, already hatched with some governors, to weaken the opposition PDP.

“Yes, we have on good authority that FCT minister, Wike is planning to attend the NEC meeting tomorrow all in a bid to weaken the fabrics of the PDP, and pave the way for the continuation of the Tinubu administration come 2027, and by extension, relapse Nigeria to a full blown one party state.

“From every indication, Wike and his co-travellers, are bent on unleashing the same crisis ravaging the third force, Labour Party, and Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso’s Nigerian National People’s Party (NNPP) on the PDP for the APC to remain the only political party in the country, and ensure that Tinubu has no challenger, come 2027,” the Source said.

It would be recalled that Wike has boasted over and again that there’s no opposition against Tinubu’s re-emergence in 2027, and that they have made sure of that. He has been compensated with the Ministerial job after he withdrew support for his party, and supported the APC and Tinubu to emerge as national government.

The Source further revealed that in the attempt to actualize the intended one party  state, a lot of funding is ongoing to ensure that concerned stakeholders are ‘settled’ handsomely.

Wike, prior, during and after the 2023 general elections, has been floating in between the two major political parties; the APC and the PDP. While he claim to still be a member of the PDP, he is functioning as a minister in an APC government, mocking the inability of his party to discipline him.

Political stakeholders have concluded that the outcome of Thursday’s PDP NEC meeting will determine the path Nigeria’s political trajectory will take, and that it may portend the end of multi-party system and political democracy if Wike succeeds in his plan.

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Bribery, Corruption: APC Suspends National Chairman, Ganduje

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The All Progressives Congress ward in Ganduje, Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area, has suspended the party’s National Chairman, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje.

The party ward legal adviser, Halliru Gwanzo, announced the suspension while addressing newsmen in Kano State on Monday.

Gwanzo cited allegations of bribery against Ganduje levelled by the Kano State Government as the reason for the suspension.

“We decided to suspend Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje from the party due to the seriousness of the allegations against him,” Gwanzo said.

Meanwhile, efforts to contact the Chief Press Secretary to the APC National Chairman, Mr Edwin Olufo, failed as his mobile phone was unreachable.

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Akpabio Commits to Collaboration with Tinubu, Governor Umo Eno

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The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has stated his commitment to working closely with Nigeria’s President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and Governor Umo Eno to ensure the delivery of democratic benefits to the people of Akwa Ibom State.

Akpabio stated this in his country home, Ukana, Essien Udim Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom, while briefing his constituents on the journey so far as their representative in the red chamber.

He assured the people of Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District of his commitment to their welfare in appreciation of their total support for him, President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in last year’s election.

The Highpoint of the constituency briefing was the distribution of over 10,000 bags of rice and other essentials for his constituents from the wards, to the local governments.

A statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Jackson Udom, quoted Akpabio as saying, “I am here once again, to thank you for standing by me, our President and the party, before, during and even after last year’s elections. I have come to say thank you and also bring Renewed Hope to you all.

“As the President is doing his own, the Senate President is also doing his bit and being complemented by the state governor, Akwa Ibom would be the better for it. We have finished elections and politics, we are now into governance. The governor of the state must touch you, because he is the governor of all the people in the state irrespective of political affiliation.

” As I am touching you now from the political angle, I will also touch the state without any political party affiliation. Most of the projects we are putting in place would be used by people resident in the state. Relax, things are getting better.”

The former Governor of the state, assured his constituents that his current position as the Senate President would be used for the development of the state in collaboration with the President and the Akwa Ibom State Governor.

Hear him: This Senate President is not the one that would be fighting the state government. I will collaborate with , I will collaborate with , to make the state better for us all. We cannot be out of government for a long time. You have to go to a government that carries you along”

Akpabio promised to work for his constituents and Nigeria with all his strength, noting that, “as the President of the Senate, I am for the Southern region and the entire country. I may not come here regularly to tell you what I have been doing for you, but you will be feeling the impact on way or the other. Our unemployed youths would be gainfully employed. I will construct a mini stadium in all the local governments in the district, for our youths to develop their sporting potentials. ”

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