Members of a Civil Society Organisation, Civil Society Network Against Corruption (CISNAC), on Tuesday staged a peaceful protest at the Lagos zonal office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), calling for the probe of the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa.
The protesters, who also submitted a petition against the Speaker, were received by the head of the anti-graft agency in Lagos, Mohammed Rabo.
The placard carrying protesters said they want the EFCC to investigate allegations of financial impropriety against Obasa.
Shina Odugbemi, the Coordinator of CISNAC, who spoke before presenting the petition to Rabo, said: “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.”
Read also: Group calls for probe of Lagos Assembly Speaker, Obasa, over alleged corruption
In his response, Rabo gave the protesters assurances that the EFCC would give the petition the required attention, warning however that allegations do not automatically translate into guilt.
He said: “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.”
The petition signed by the chairman of the group, Olanrewaju Suraju, alleged among other things that a bulletproof vehicle with a market value of N100 million was purchased for N300 million. It also alleged that the Speaker unilaterally purchased 40 cars for members of the Assembly with neither prior discussion with members nor official approval by the House amongst other things.
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