Lagos – The Lagos State House of Assembly on Tuesday gave approval to its Committee on Local Government Administration and Community Affairs to investigate the state-sponsored 114 road projects across the 57 council areas.
The approval followed the request made to the House by the Committee’s Chairman, Mr Akeem Alimi, on the floor of the House.
Alimi said that the state government had so far spent N5.7 billion to construct roads across all the local councils in the state.
He said that the sum was just 30 per cent of the money the government earmarked for construction of two roads in each of the 57 local council areas.
The Chairman, House Committee on Works and Infrastructure, Mr Abiodun Tobun, said that there were abandoned projects across the local governments in the state which needed to be monitored.
“There is a lot of compromise in the councils. The money involved is a whooping N5.7 billion; so we should monitor the projects, ‘’ Tobun said.
Mrs Adefunmilayo Tejuosho, Chairman, House Committee on Judiciary, Petitions, Human Rights and Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) said that the fund involved was huge.
Tejuosho said that the matter should be taken serious, saying that the lawmakers should be carried along with the way government’s fund was being spent.
The Majority Leader of the House, Mr Sanai Agunbiade, commended the committee for the proposal, saying “it is in line with the tradition of the House’’.
“The Chairman of the committee conceived this as a serious issue. We have oversight on the ministries and the projects they do.
“If the job is well done, we will take the glory and if it is the other way, we will be blamed,’’ he said.
The Chairman, House Committee on Budget and Economic Planning, Mr Rotimi Olowo, disagreed with the move, stressing that the projects were barely three months old.
Olowo said that the projects were being supervised by the ministry of works and infrastructure.
“We can call on them to give us an update on the projects. They have the expertise to do that.
“Getting consultants to inspect the projects would cost us money.
“We can call on the supervising ministries not to pay the contractors until we are satisfied with the ones they have done so far,’’ he said.
In his ruling, the Speaker of the House, Mr Mudashiru Obasa, urged that the Community Development Committees (CDCs) in each of the local councils should be carried along in the inspection.
Obasa said that the House had powers to supervise the projects as part of its oversight functions on the ministries and local governments.
He said that the officials of the state ministry of works should also be contacted for the task by the committee. (NAN)
