The plot to impeach the Lagos State Governor, Akinwumi Ambode took another dimension yesterday as members of the Lagos State House of Assembly held a closed door meeting.
The lawmakers held the emergency meeting, which lasted for several hours.
The Assembly, which adjourned sitting till Monday suddenly summoned members for an emergency meeting on Wednesday, after a massive protest by pro-Ambode supporters appealing to the lawmakers not to impeach the Lagos State Governor.
Journalists were barred from covering the meeting and anxious newsmen hung around the Assemblyโs premises to wait for outcome of the meeting.
Feelers had it that the meeting was called to deliberate on the impeachment of Governor Ambode, who the House had ordered to appear before them on Monday to defend the allegations leveled against him.
They gave the governor one week to appear before the House to explain the infractions leveled against him.
The lawmakers had accused Ambode of gross misconduct and spending money from the 2019 budget that had not yet been presented or approved by the House.
Speaker of the House, Mudashiru Obasa told members who are in support of Ambodeโs impeachment to start collecting signatures to impeach the governor.
Earlier, hundreds of supporters of Ambode stormed the Assembly to protest the planned impeachment.
The protesters marched to the Assembly and caused traffic gridlock.
They carried placards, saying that any move to impeach Ambode would disrupt the coming election, adding that the governor should be allowed to complete his tenure.
The protesters said the governor did not deserve the treatment he was getting from the party, saying they should leave the governor alone.
The protesters, under the aegis of the Lagos Peopleโs Assembly (LPA), said as a critical civil society stakeholder in the Lagos Project, they were gravely concerned with the unfolding political drama in the state which might degenerate to a logjam if not handled with the best of statesmanship kits.
โWe are fully conscious of the historical truism that under a constitutional democracy, the executive and legislative arms of government must seamlessly work in harmony to deliver the dividends of democracy for the people. Both arms are equal partners in the business of constitutional, democratic governance.
โIn recent time, the two tiers of government have been embroiled in crisis of confidence conflicts. The House has commenced an impeachment process against the governor, Akinwunmi Ambode on the allegations thathe committed an infraction of the constitution by not personally presenting the 2019 budget within constitutional stipulated period
yet, the governor has started disbursing part of the budget.
Ambode on the other hand claimed that the Assembly refused to reconvene the House during its last yuletide holiday,โ said the Coordinator of the group, Declan Ihekaire.
