Members of the Lagos State House of Assembly have summoned the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development and Special Adviser for Public Private Partnership (PPP), Paul Bamgbose Martins and Ope George respectively to give a reason for their refusal to make recourse to the House for ratification before contracts are signed.
The summon was a sequel to a Matter of Urgent Public Importance raised by one of the lawmakers, Nureni Akinsanya, representing Mushin Constituency 1.
Akinsanya urged the House to look at the flagrant disregard for the laws of the state on contractual agreements.
Citing some contracts signed without due process by the duo, Akinsanya advised that such acts should be discouraged, adding that the law should be enforced and followed and all contracts should be put on hold for now.
According to him, the Commissioner and other concerned agencies should be invited for questioning.
His counterpart, Rotimi Olowo, representing Shomolu Constituency 1, said, the focus should be on the financial implication and ability to determine state deficit.
“The officer involved and contractors should come before the House for scrutiny.”
Also, Lukmon Olumoh corroborated that many of the MDA’s have not met the standard in respect of due process.
According to him, many of them ran afoul of legal provisions for contractual purposes, “the ratification of the House is to protect the interest of the state as well as that of the investors.
In his contribution, Temitope Adewale counseled that the need for ratification of the House is in the interest of people and the state because of “unforeseen circumstances that could lead to litigation, PPP project is a brilliant idea, laws made to direct the process need to be followed.
“Contracts being signed and not brought before the House for ratification are a flagrant disregard for the rule of law.”
In his reaction, the Deputy Speaker of the House, Wasiu Eshinlokun-Sanni, who presided over the plenary ruled that the cited individuals be summoned to avail the House with the required details to give a clearer picture and guard against the untoward development.
