A former Lagos State Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Olusegun Banjo, has accused former governor Akinwunmi Ambode of ignoring his ministry in the controversial purchase of 820 mass transit buses for N45 billion.
During his appearance on Tuesday before a 16-man ad hoc committee set up by the Lagos State House of Assembly to probe Mr Ambode, the former commissioner said Ambode’s administration lacked transparency.
“The way the ministry was structured (under Ambode), it did not allow us to function well,” Mr Banjo said.
“The N24 billion did not come to my ministry. We didn’t have a running system. As a commissioner, I could not approve one naira. All the MDAs approached the governor directly.”
He said that Ambode’s administration “was not transparent,” and that “a lot of things could be done without the knowledge of the commissioners.”
However, the Accountant-General of Lagos State, Shukrat Umar, had told the committee that the purchase of the buses came with the approval of the state executive council.
Ambode failed to appear on Tuesday before the committee headed by Fatai Mojeed.
Former commissioner for finance, Akinyemi Ashade, and ex-commissioner for special duties, Oladejo Seye, were also absent but wrote to the committee explaining that they were out of the country.
House Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa, said Ambode would be invited through a newspaper publication and that an arrest warrant would be issued if he fails to appear before the committee afterward.
