* Obasa

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Tuesday tongue lashed the Lagos State 
House of Assembly describing it as incurably smeared with issues of corruption, misappropriation and allegations of embezzlement of funds meant for the 
welfare of the people of Lagos state. 

The party, analysing the confessions by its Speaker, Hon. Mudashiru Obasa,
 argued that  the leadership of the Lagos State House of Assembly has
 irredeemably lost the rectitude to preside over legislations or make
 appropriations for the people of Lagos state.

The party insists that the Speaker should clear his name by surrendering
himself to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for
investigation, instead of limiting his defence to an in-house committee
of the legislature, over which he presides.

Says the PDP: "Nigerians are shocked by revelations at the panel of how funds 
meant for the welfare of Lagosians  were dissipated on luxurious SUVs, frivolous
foreign trips and funding of expensive and wasteful lifestyles of
certain lawmakers and their relations, while the people are neglected
and abandoned to a life of squalor"

The party described as heartbreaking, the confession by the Speaker that
public fund was disbursed to finance a trip of wives of lawmakers to far
away Dubai.

"Our party holds that the attempt by the Speaker to justify the purchase
of expensive air tickets, paying for hotel accommodation, feeding and
local travel for wives of lawmakers in Dubai, from funds derived from
levies and taxes foisted by the All Progressives Congress (APC)
administration in the state on poor Lagosians, including widows, is to
say the least, sacrilegious.

"His admission that “we gave N4 million to each of the participants
(wives of the lawmakers) for air ticket, hotels, feeding and local
travel. Air ticket to Dubai alone is about N2 million”, exposes the
impunity and recklessness with which funds belonging to Lagosians are
squandered."

The PDP challenges Mr. Speaker to show Nigerians how much he had
approved for hard working Lagosians, especially the youths, who had
continued to be denied opportunities for scholarships, economic
empowerment, employment and sponsorship to excel in various fields of
endeavors.

Mr. Speaker is also challenged to show what steps his legislature had
taken to uplift the living standard of downtrodden Lagos women who had
continued to bear the weight of poverty and heavy taxes imposed by the
APC administration in the state.

Moreover, the Lagos state Assembly is still burdened with issues of
reported discovery of 64 accounts allegedly linked to the Bank
Verification Number (BVN) of the Speaker, said to be operated with
multiple names in various banks and used to siphon public funds, among
other sundry allegations.

Our party holds that such is a huge allegation for which the Speaker
should clear his name before the EFCC and not before an in-house panel
of the legislature.

The PDP however charged members of the Lagos House of Assembly to redeem
the image of the legislature by immediately returning all
misappropriated funds, including the largess given to their wives and
apologizing to the people of Lagos.

The party in a release signed bybKola Ologbondiyan, its  National Publicity Secretary urged  APC national leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, to speak out on the issue and condemn the recklessness in the Lagos House of Assembly.