Tinubu halts impeachment moves against Ambode

The threats of impeachment against the governor of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode by the state Assembly lawmakers was yesterday quashed by the National leader of All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Bola Tinubu, after he brokered a truce between the executive and members of the state legislature. Speaking after a peace meeting initiated by the APC leadership in the state to end the rift between the governor and lawmakers which was held at Lagos House, Marina, Tinubu said it was gratifying to note that the conflict between Ambode and the members of the State Assembly had been amicably settled. The state legislative arm of government has been embroiled in a crisis with Ambode since December 2018 over the non-presentation of the 2019 budget, which led to the lawmakers threatening to impeach him if he fails to abide by the parliamentary tradition.

At its plenary session last Monday, the lawmakers, who took turns to accuse the governor of gross misconducts and violation of the Constitution, especially for spending from the 2019 budget that was yet to be laid on the floor of the House, insisted that the governor and two of his commissioners should appear before it within seven days or risk impeachment. The move, which has generated ripples in the state in the last one week, was supposed to come up for consideration in today’s plenary session after the expiration of the sevenday ultimatum given to the governor by the lawmakers. But speaking on behalf of all the APC leaders in the state, Tinubu said the executive and the legislative arms of government had resolved to work together in the interest of the state.

He said: “We held a meeting on behalf of Lagos, the entire Lagosians, our party – APC leadership. In the last one week, there has been noise about the conflict between the executive and the State Assembly. It is of great concern to all of us, and particularly what Lagos represents across the country. “We have been able to look into the source of various conflicts which is not uncommon in politics; what is the genesis of those problems? We are one big family and as a big family, you will have some rumples, you will have some disagreements. As leaders of the party, we have looked into that; we have looked into areas where we have to compromise, discuss and build the institutions, encourage the institutions to really do what is right. “We have resolved there is no question of impeachment in Lagos State. Let the two arms of government communicate and continue to respect one another and build consensus and understanding.

That is all about politics. Conflict and conflict resolution mechanism is inbuilt in any political system unless leaders are lacking in their responsibilities,” Tinubu said. While commending the governor, his deputy, and the leadership of the House for agreeing to the peaceful resolution of the conflict, the former Lagos State governor said it was evident that consequences of allowing such conflict to fester would have been dire not just for the state, but the entire country. “We thank the Speaker and the entire members of the House of Assembly leadership. We thank the Governor and the Deputy Governor who had demonstrated firm respect for the party leadership in Lagos State. “You know when Lagos sneezes, the rest of the political equation catches cold and we are very happy that we are able to resolve amicably. The Deputy Speaker is also here and all of them put together, we are assured that things will start to run smoothly in Lagos both the House and the government,” he said. Also speaking, a chieftain of the party, Prince Tajudeen Olusi, said the intervention of Tinubu has ended the impeachment fuss, just as he expressed optimism that the House would soon meet to resolve other grey areas. “The National Leader (Tinubu) has spoken and mine is just to confirm the decision. Conflict resolution is an essential ingredient of management. We have looked into the problem and the party has directed the two arms of government – the executive and the legisaslature to work together and very soon, the House will meet and resolve all grey areas,” Olusi said. The meeting was attended by both the executive and legislative arms represented by Governor Ambode, Deputy Governor, Dr. Idiat Adebule; Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa; Deputy Speaker, Wasiu Eshinlokun; Majority Leader, Sinai Agunbiade; Chief Whip, Rotimi Abiru, among other principal officers of the Assembly. Others in attendance were all the members of the Governors’ Advisory Council (GAC), the highest decision making organ of the party in the state; governorship candidate of the party in Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu and his deputy, Dr. Femi Hamzat, among others.