Breaking News: Lagos Speaker Denies N17 Billion Gate Allegation, Labels Claims as "Spurious"
The Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, has dismissed allegations that the Assembly spent a staggering N17 billion on the construction of a gate, describing the claim as "spurious and funny."
The allegation, made by a self-styled group, Lagos State Anti-Corruption Coalition, also included accusations of spending N200 million on a thanksgiving service. The group has called for an investigation into the purported expenditures.
Addressing the issue during plenary on Thursday, Dr. Obasa attributed the allegations to political fear-mongering ahead of the 2027 elections.
“It is so funny. How much is the allocation of the Assembly in the whole year that we will decide to spend N17 billion on a gate? They even claimed that we expended N200 million on a thanksgiving service that did not hold,” the Speaker remarked.
Obasa further clarified that the Assembly had not embarked on any such projects and emphasized the implausibility of the claims.
“This House did not and has not embarked on any such project. We are not that reckless. We had our thanksgiving last Friday, and dignitaries from various parts of the state attended it,” he said.
Addressing Additional Allegations
The Speaker also refuted claims of his involvement in the screening and confirmation of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, by the National Assembly.
“They said that I was at the National Assembly when they were confirming the EFCC chairman. I want to believe that there are CCTV cameras at the National Assembly to identify those who attended the event. The press must have written about it too. So the group should do more to confirm if I was there,” Obasa added.
He stressed that his response was to inform the public and not to engage with the writers of the allegations, whom he dismissed as lacking credibility.
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