The Lagos State House of Assembly squandered over N40 billion purchasing extra vehicles for its 40 members.
This is according to a report filed by Peoples Gazette, after a rare sighting of the state’s recent expenditure records.
The records, which The Gazette obtained through sources angered by the regime of unbridled looting under Speaker Mudashiru Obasa, showed the assembly disbursed N43.5 billion for so-called “back-up vehicles for honourable members.”
The staggering sum was part of roughly N90.5 billion Mr Obasa and his accomplices drew from Lagos coffers for frivolous and arcane line items between January 2023 and the third quarter of 2024. Therefore, the expenditure did not include what the lawmakers spent in the last quarter of 2024, The Gazette learnt.
Lawmakers and other top public officials in Lagos usually embark on mindless looting in the last quarter of the year as they seek to maximise budget performance to avoid returning excess funds to the state’s treasury,
Lagos administrators have relied on its reputation as one of the most opaque states in Nigeria to avoid public uproar and accountability while mindlessly bilking the state’s deep reservoir of funds.
Consequently, the state has waged the longest battle against the Freedom of Information Act, which was signed into law by President Goodluck Jonathan in 2011 and adopted by several states, saying the law was restricted to the federal level and not applicable to states’ records.
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Appellate courts have already dismissed Lagos’ argument and ruled the law applied to all tiers of government nationwide, but a petition at the Supreme Court has yet to be decided.
A spokesman for Obasa said the Speaker would not accept responsibility for the mismanagement, saying it was a matter for the entire parliament.
“This is a matter specifically about the House, not Mr Obasa personally,” Eromosele Ebhomele said in a statement to The Gazette on Friday. “So it is not within my power to offer any comments on this.”
Budget performance documents showed the assembly spent N30,194,952,873 on the vehicles from the first through the last quarter of 2023, while N13,332,950,408 was spent in the first three quarters of 2024 alone.
The documents did not indicate the types of vehicles the lawmakers received for auxiliary use, barely three years after all 40 members received brand-new vehicles.
However, the total disbursement indicated each lawmaker received roughly N1.1 billion within the period under review, massively surpassing allocation for even official vehicles for senators.
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