Groups protest against planned impeachment of Ambode

Members of the Lagos Peoples Assembly (LPA) yesterday protested against the State House of Assembly’s purported plans to impeach Governor Akinwunmi Ambode.

The House had threatened to impeach Ambode on Monday if he failed to appear before it to explain alleged infractions in budget execution.

Armed with different placards, they sang solidarity songs in support of Ambode and against Speaker of the House, Mudashiru Obasa.

Some of the placards bore inscriptions such as: We Stand With Ambode; We Say No To impeachment; Leave Ambode Alone To Finish His Tenure and Stop Humiliating Our Governor, among others.

Coordinator of the group, Declan Ihekaire, who spoke on behalf of the protesters, said as a civil society stakeholder in the Lagos Project, they were concerned about the unfolding political drama in the state, which may degenerate to a logjam if not handled carefully.

“We are fully conscious of the historical truism that under a constitutional democracy, the executive and legislative arms of government must work in harmony to deliver dividends of democracy. Both arms are partners in democratic governance,” he said.

Responding, Leader of the House, Sanai Agunbiade, who received the protest letter on behalf of the Assembly, assured the protesters that its leadership would act on their demands in the overall interest of the state.

However, the Lagos Liberation Movement (LLM) has cautioned against plans to impeach Ambode, saying such plans will not succeed.

In a statement issued by comrades Mark Adebayo and Olufemi Lawson, the group expressed concern over Obasa’s role in the embattled governor’s ordeal.

The group maintained that the Assembly was deviating from its statutory responsibility of law making, adding, “Rather than concentrate on fundamental issues affecting ordinary citizens of the state, the lawmakers have chosen to be idle.”

It also accused former Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu of being behind the plot to remove Ambode.

“The Assembly is beginning to position itself, as a clog in the state’s wheel of progress and have refused to appreciate the statesman’s role Ambode has played in stabilising the state, in spite of manipulations of the House against his administration,” it stated.