Politics
Lagos Assembly, Council Chairmen Disagree On Funding
The Lagos State House of Assembly has disagreed with some local government chairmen over the latter’s claims of paucity of funds as a hindrance to the development of infrastructure in their Local Government Areas (LGAs).
The Chairman, House Committee on Local Government and Community Affairs, Mr Olayiwola Olawale, made his feelings known in Ikorodu during an oversight tour of the LGA and the Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) in the zone.
The Tide source reports that other members of the House committee were Mr Joseph Kehinde, Alimosho II, Mr Rasheed Makinde, Ifako Ijaiye II, Mr Nureni Akinsanya Mushin I and Mr Rauf Age-Sulaimon , Amuwo Odofin II.
Olawale disputed the claims of the council chairmen, arguing that there were enough funds flowing from the federal and state governments into local council coffers.
The lawmaker, representing Mushin Constituency II, noted that the issue was the lack of creative ways of generating funds to help the councils to develop their infrastructure.
Olawale said the Ikorodu council and the LCDAs were surrounded by commercial ventures even though they were agrarian communities, adding that there was need for them to be re-orientated and enlightened on how to generate funds.
“I don’t know what they mean by paucity of funds. You and I know that there is enough funds coming from the federal, as well as the state, into the local government administrations.
“What I discovered is that they are not putting genuine effort into the local administration of funds. They are not using their creative ways to generate funds.
“Agreed, it is an agrarian area but still surrounded by many commercial ventures that they can tap on.
“The leadership of the councils still needs to be re-orientated and enlightened on how to generate funds.” he said.
Corroborating, a member of the committee, Mr Kehinde said the claims of paucity of funds was not tenable as the councils had not been able to measure up with the given allocation.
Kehinde, representing Alimosho Constituency II, said he did not believe that Ikorodu Local Government Council did not have enough and questioned what they had been using their allocations for.
The lawmaker said most of them have yet to make severance payments to political office holders, as directed.
He said: “Before our visitation, I was one of those people that usually believed that Ikorodu did not have money.
“If they are saying they don’t have enough funds, are they judiciously spending the money they have collected?’’ he asked.
Earlier, some council chairmen had lamented the paucity of funds as the reason undermining infrastructural development in their areas.
The Council chairman, Ikorodu West LCDA, Mrs Olajumoke Ademeyin-Jimbo, said efforts were being made to jerk up the revenue of the council in order to meet their infrastructural needs.
Ademeyin-Jimbo said that the council needed money to rehabilitate the roads in its rural communities.
The chairman, Ikorodu Local Government, Mr Wasiu Ayodeji, also acknowledged the challenge posed by the paucity of funds.
“The challenge is finance, especially with the splitting of Ikorodu Local Government into six.
“However, we are appealing to the state government and the assembly to come to our aid in terms of the development of infrastructure in the council areas,” he said.
Mr Sesan Daini, Chairman, Igbogbo-Baiyeku LCDA, said that all the grey areas discovered by the house committee would be looked into, pointing out the councils would embark on more projects.
The Chairman, Imota LCDA, Mr Wasiu Agoro, said that the council has improved on the provision of welfare for its staff and their internal revenue generation has also been enhanced.
Also, Mr Adeola Banjo, the Chairman, Ikorodu North LCDA commended the committee for giving it as pass mark after inspecting some of the projects it carried out.
Banjo promised to continue to do his best, adding that the commendation has encouraged him to do more.
Politics
Reps Constitution Review Committee Holds Zonal Hearing For Rivers, C’River, Akwa Ibom In Calabar
A press statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary to the Cross River State Governor, Mr Linus Obogo, disclosed that the Calabar Centre — designated as Centre B — will host representatives and stakeholders from Cross River, Rivers, and Akwa Ibom States.
The public hearing is scheduled to take place on Saturday, July 19, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. at the Transcorp (Metropolitan) Hotel, Calabar.
The initiative, according to the statement, is designed to promote inclusive dialogue and capture the aspirations of Nigerians from all regions.
It aims to serve as a platform for citizens to contribute meaningfully to the ongoing national efforts to refine and strengthen the country’s legal and institutional frameworks.
“Citizens, civil society groups, professional bodies, traditional rulers, and other interest blocs are invited to participate in this landmark engagement aimed at advancing a more just, equitable, and responsive Nigerian Constitution,” the statement read.
The hearing forms part of the broader review process of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), and is seen as a strategic move toward fostering national unity and addressing structural legal issues within the federation.
For the first time since 2022, when then-presidential aspirant Alhaji Bola Tinubu declared he made former President Buhari Nigeria’s President in 2015, Mr Mustapha dismissed the claims, stressing that the merger only contributed about three million votes in addition to Buhari’s existing 12 million votes in the North.
He insisted that former President Buhari’s integrity, national stature, and disciplined messaging were central to the breakthrough, not the three million votes from the merging parties, which he described as insignificant.
Speaking on the role of the merging parties, particularly President Tinubu, the leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Mr Mustapha, who was the keynote speaker at the launch of the book ‘According to the President: Lessons from a Presidential Spokesman’s Experience’ authored by Mallam Garba Shehu, described the impact of the votes from other merging parties as very insignificant.
In attendance were former Head of State Yakubu Gowon, chair of the event; immediate past Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; SGF George Akume, who represented President Tinubu; PDP’s 2023 presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar; former Chief of Staff to Buhari Ibrahim Gambari; elder statesman Babagana Kingibe; former governors Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna), Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Chris Ngige (Anambra), Rauf Aregbesola (Osun), Raji Babatunde Fashola (Lagos); former ministers Solomon Dalung and Sunday Dare; former Army Chief Tukur Buratai, and Bayo Onanuga, President Tinubu’s spokesman, among others.
According to Mr Mustapha, “I do not intend to stir up any controversy. The merger in 2013 was midwifed to create a Buhari presidency. Let us look at the statistics. In the 2003 election, it was the Obasanjo-Buhari presidential contest where Buhari recorded 12.7 million votes. In 2007, it came to 6.6 million, and it went back to 12.2 million in 2011.
“When we were conceptualising the merger, what would give us a headstart? Obviously, it was at the back of our consciousness that the merger with the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), though it had only one state, the ACN had six states, ANPP three states, and when you sum up the total votes that we had as the presidency in 2015, the aggregate of the total votes was 15.4 million.
“So, basically, what we brought to the table after the merger outside the Buhari 12.5 million votes was three million. Before turning to that presidency, it is important to recognise the former President’s role in reshaping Nigeria’s political trajectory.
“In early 2013, as the leader of the CPC, Buhari formally requested and supported the creation of a CPC merger committee, part of a broader coalition-building process that brought together the ACN, ANPP, APGA faction, and elements of the ruling party through the breakaway ‘new PDP’ group. His endorsement and participation, along with other party leaders such as President Tinubu and Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, lent credibility and direction to the merger, helping to unify disparate party factions under the banner of the APC. That coalition-building paved the way for the first democratic defeat of an incumbent ruling party in Nigeria’s history.
“President Buhari’s integrity, national stature, and disciplined messaging were central to that breakthrough. No account of President Buhari’s tenure would be complete without acknowledging the extended periods he spent on medical leave. These moments, while politically delicate, were also telling of his leadership philosophy and personality,” he said.
In his remarks, President Tinubu promised to build on the legacies of former President Buhari, stressing that “nation-building is a relay. The efforts of one administration lay the foundation for the next.
“In this regard, I acknowledge the efforts of my predecessor, President Buhari, and assure all Nigerians that the reform-oriented path he initiated will be consolidated and strengthened under this administration. Our Renewed Hope Agenda is inspired by the desire to build a resilient, just, and inclusive Nigeria—a nation that delivers dividends of democracy to all its citizens”.
Speaking during an appearance on live television on Wednesday, Mr Omokri alleged that Mr Obi’s statements were misleading and damaging to the country’s economic prospects.
Mr Omokri said some investors currently operating in Nigeria were considering exiting the market due to Mr Obi’s remarks.
“That is not true. He doesn’t rile me up. I rile him up. The reason why I came here is because I’m a patriot. Peter Obi lied. You know, foreign direct investors are watching your programme, who are making investment decisions not to come to Nigeria. There are foreign investors in Nigeria that are making investment decisions to leave Nigeria because of the lie he told.
“One of the lies he told is that President Tinubu has borrowed more than the administrations of Yar’Adua, Jonathan, Buhari. That is a blatant lie”, Mr Omokri said.
To buttress his claims, Mr Omokri referenced figures from the Debt Management Office (DMO), maintaining that President Tinubu had actually reduced Nigeria’s external debt burden since assuming office.
“I have here with me data from the Debt Management Office, and Nigerians who are watching can go to DMO.com and search Debt Management Office, Nigeria State of Indebtedness 2015.
“As of 2015, Nigeria was owing a total of $63 billion. When Buhari was leaving office, Nigeria was owing $113 billion. Today, from the DMO, our debt has gone from $113 billion to $97 billion, meaning that Tinubu has reduced our debt by over $14 billion.
“We should be appreciating this man. Yet Peter Obi came here and lied to the Nigerian people. He took the debts and translated them into naira to make it look like the debts have increased”, he said.