Members of the Civil Society Network Against Corruption demanded the probe of the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over corruption.
The members of the civil organisation staged a peaceful protest at the Lagos office of the anti-graft agency where they submitted a petition against the speaker.
They informed the EFCC that they wanted it to carry out an investigation of Hon. Obasa for financial impropriety.
According to the leader of the protesters, Shina Odugbemi;
“Our mission here this morning is to present you a letter about an issue in the city, Lagos State. Everywhere is awash with the accusation that the Speaker of the state House of Assembly is squandering money. We pick issues and we ensure that we follow issues to logical conclusions. This is one of the steps.
We have come here today to present to you our petition that contains a catalogue of allegations. The truth is that these are allegations until they are investigated and until a court of competent jurisdiction rules over them, we can’t say somebody is a thief or not. But what we are against is that in the Lagos State House of Assembly, there is a conspiracy to sweep these things under the carpet.”
The head of the Lagos office of the EFCC, Mohammed Rabo said the agency will look into the allegations.
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He however reminded them that allegations remain as they are until the accused has been proven guilty by the courts.
“I have received your petition and in our usual way, we don’t segregate if there is any allegation. But like you rightly said, an allegation does not confirm the guilt of a person until investigations are well established.
“So, I want to assure you that like every other petition we receive, we will give it the required attention.
We have our process here. This is the first process, you have submitted a petition; we will go into it and we will commence earnestly.”
Some of the accusations against Obasa in the submitted petition include;
“Purchase of a bulletproof car at a market value of less than N100m and the inflation of its price to N300m; as well as unilateral purchase of 40 cars for members of the Assembly with neither prior discussion with members nor official approval by the House.”
Obasa was given a vote of confidence by the ethics committee of the House which cleared him of all corruption charges. They declared that the Speaker followed due process in carrying out financial dealings on behalf of the House.
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