By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The Lagos State Police Command on Monday nabbed a group of supporters of Mudashiru Obasa, the recently impeached Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, near the assembly complex.

Obasa, who represented Agege Constituency I, was removed from his position over allegations of gross misconduct and abuse of office.

Following his impeachment, some men believed to be his supporters were reportedly loitering around the assembly complex and subsequently taken into custody by the police.

In a viral video, the detained individuals, who were locked in a police van, claimed to be members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) from Orile Agege, Obasa’s constituency.

A tangible reason has not been given for apprehending us here. We are like 20 here, and we are from Orile Agege. We are APC youths,” one of the detainees told journalists through the window shutters of the van.

The men also pleaded with passersby for food and water while singing “On Your Mandate,” a popular song among President Bola Tinubu’s supporters.

Deputy Speaker, Mojisola Meranda, has since been elected as the new Speaker of the Assembly, making her the first female to hold the position in Lagos State.

By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The National Assembly Joint Committee on Finance has constituted a special committee to probe a shortfall of over N4 trillion in revenue due to indiscriminate waivers by government agencies.

The decision to set up the panel to investigate the shortfall followed a motion moved by Senator Adamu Aliero during a hearing to examine the revenue profiles of ministries, departments, and agencies and government-owned enterprises ahead of the 2025 budget.

The hearing aimed to enable the Senate and House of Representatives committees to develop accurate and realistic revenue projections for 2025.

The joint committee is co-chaired by Senator Sani Musa and Hon James Faleke.

Moving the motion, Aliero said: “Due to the issue of waivers, there is a serious shortfall between what is supposed to be collected as revenue and what is actually collected.

“From our records, over N5.9 trillion was supposed to be in the consolidated revenue fund of the federation, but we only have N1.9 trillion. We need to set up a special committee that will investigate this serious anomaly.

“We cannot continue to allow revenue agencies to spend money without the National Assembly. If someone is given a waiver, we have to find out who gave that waiver.

“A shortfall of over N4 trillion is not a small amount. We found out that over N4.9 trillion has not been remitted. We should set up an investigative committee that would investigate all the money that has not been remitted.”

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Administration, Barrister Nyesom Wike, is set to honour victorious athletes that have recently represented the Capital Territory in various Games.

This is in recognition of the athletes’ performance at the various Games, the 2022 National Sports Festival, the 7th and 8th National Youth Games and will be staged on Thursday January 16th, 2025.

The historic performance of the team at the Games, is what led to Barr. Nyesom Wike’s approval that a special reception be held in their honour.

The event is organized to appreciate the team’s great acts of sacrifice, patriotism and determination, demonstrated at the Games which has brought the FCT great positivity.

Barr Wike is committed to the development of sports, and has always reiterated that he would continue to create an enabling environment for sports to thrive as part of President Bola Tinubu’s administration’s focus to engage youths to help discover their potentials and empower them to be better.