Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode today Monday, January 11, 2016 swore in the new Vice-Chancellor of Lagos State University, LASU, Prof. Olarenwaju Fagbohun at the Conference room, Lagos House, Ikeja.

Owonifari market in the Oshodi, Oshodi/Isolo Local Government Area was destroyed in the early hours of today by Lagos state government officials.

Lagos state government says it has concluded plans to install 10,000 CCTC cameras across the state. The state Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Akinyemi Ashade, stated this while giving a breakdown of the 2016 budget, tagged ’The Peoples’ Budget’ before newsmen.


“We will be expanding our ICT infrastructure statewide. Consequently, a budget of N9.6 billion has been approved for this purpose in 2016. This will include a Smart City project targeted at deploying technology to enhance security in the state. 
It will also aid our revenue generating efforts. We will be increasing coverage of CCTV installations in the state. Our goal is to have over 10,000 active cameras, connected by Broadband. The existing 1,000 cameras will be reactivated and these will be increased by an additional 3,000 cameras after the completion of the first phase of this project.”‎he said

The Lagos state government's Christmas Carol service held at the Lagos House, Ikeja yesterday December 22nd.

Lagos State Government yesterday shut down 53 churches, mosques and hotels over noise pollution and environmental nuisance in the state. Some of the worship centres were shut because they were converted from residential apartments to places of worship thereby contravening the law and constituting nuisance to neighbours.



Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency, LASEPA General Manager, Engr Rasheed Shabi, while commenting on the closures said the agency received lots of complaints from residents and neighbours of the worship centers ‎

“In recent times, most of the petitions kept coming back to us. It was as if we are not working at all. That was why we shut the premises. You cannot have makeshift structure and say you want to be conducting services or vigil there. Definitely, you will be disturbing your neighbours. So, the government won’t allow the use of makeshift facilities as a church or mosque. Nobody is allowed to make noise above 55 decibel during the day in the residential area and only 45 decibel is allowed in such area at night. In the industrial areas, 90 decibel of noise is allowed during the day while the noise rate must not exceed 80 decibel at night in such areas. The compliance level is increasing. More residents now understand the effect of noise. Some of the religious houses are also complying with the noise pollution regulations,”.

The Lagos state Rapid Response Squad (RRS) arrested three ex–convicts identified as Adekunle Mustapha, 21, Popoola Olumide, 20 and Femi Amusa, 20 for traffic robbery in Oshodi area of Lagos State.



A statement from the Rapid Response Squad states that one of the victims was inside early morning traffic around Bolade in Oshodi at about 6:30 am when one of the robbers, Adekunle Mustapha snatched his blackberry phone through the window and ran away with it.


The victim alighted at the next bus-stop and traced Adekunle. He discovered that Adekunle had regrouped with his friends.

The victim called the RRS who immediately arrested Adekunle and his friends. Adekunle in his confessional statement said “I am a bus conductor in Oshodi. I am from Ibadan and a secondary school dropout.... I am an ex–convict. I don’t want to go to prison again. Government should please have mercy on me. I was frustrated into traffic robbery. I won’t do it again,” Adekunle claimed. However his accomplices, Popoola Olawale and Femi Amusa claimed that they are bus conductors and not in-traffic robbers.

They added that they were in Lagos to make money to buy their working tools having completed their apprenticeship. The RRS Commander, ACP Olatunji Disu, has asked residents of the state to be vigilant wherever they find themselves.

"Police is your friend. Whenever you are in any distress situation, draw the attention of any police operative you see around or call 767 or 112 on your phone. Ensure that police get hold of any criminal you come in contact with, whether you are the victims or not," he said.

Nigeria’s Supreme Court on Tuesday, October 20, upheld the election of Akinwunmi Ambode of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as the Lagos state governor.
                                     

A seven-man panel of the apex court led by Justice Tanko Muhammad in a unanimous judgment, struck out the appeal by the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) candidate in the April 11, 2015 election, Olujimi Agbaje , for not being competent.

The court upheld the argument by Ambode’s lawyer, Olabode Olanipenikun, that the appeal had been rendered incompetent and academic by the virtue of the fact that the PDP refused to join Agbaje to appeal against the decision of the Court of Appeal, which had earlier upheld the judgmentof the Lagos State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal to uphold Ambode’s election, ThisDay reports.

The Lagos state governor, on Tuesday, October 20, described the ruling upholding his victory as a welcome development, saying that the people’s mandate which was expressly demonstrated on Election Day has been reaffirmed by the highest court in the land.

In a statement signed by Habib Aruna, his Chief Press Secretary, the governor in his reaction to the Supreme Court ruling, said “the decision of the Supreme Court has put all issues on election matters to rest once and for all”.

The PDP candidate during the elections, Jimi Agbaje had filed a petition at the Election Petitions Tribunal challenging the Ambode’s victory at the polls.

The Tribunal on Wednesday, July 1, struck out the petition filed against the election of Ambode by Agbaje following a preliminary objection filed by the counsel to the APC Candidate, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN).

In the same vein, Ambode has asked his newly appointed commissioners and special advisers to hit the ground running.

Ambode reminded the new appointees that their primary allegiance is to the people of the state, irrespective of creed and colour urging them to dedicate themselves to the service of the state.

                                        

The Coordinator, National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, Lagos State, Cyril Akhanameh on Thursday disclosed that 45 corps members, who absconded during their service year will repeat the service.

“Forty-five corps members will repeat their service year due to physical absence from their places of primary assignments,” he said.

“Many of the corps members left their places of primary assignments for over three months without permission; when queried, they could not give any genuine reason for being absent.

“The level of their punishments will be determined by the level of their offences; many of them will repeat, serve for three or four months in any part of the states that NYSC Authorities will choose”, he added. (Source from DAILY POST)

Immediate past governor of Lagos state, Babatunde Raji Fashola has responded to alleged outrageous contract price of a personal website and borehole during his tenure as governor of Lagos. Speaking on the floor of the senate during his ministerial screening, Fashola took the senator on a ride with his captivating response to questions as he spoke about the need for the creation of state police, increase in value added tax, the nation’s justice system.

Responding to Senator-Enyinnaya–Abaribe’s question on the personal website and borehole, Fashola said he never signed cheques for contracts as Lagos state governor.

It would be recalled that an analytic firm, BudgIT, disclosed that before Fashola left office, he approved a contract of N78.3 million from the state treasury for an upgrade of his personal website.

Contract listed includes a N640million construction of car parks at the Lagos House, Marina. The contract for the construction of the car parks was awarded to Messrs Julius Berger Plc. Yet, another is a N300million contract on the relocation of Power Holding Company of Nigeria cables at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, and awarded to Deux Projects Limited.

N175million was listed for replacement of railings on pedestrian part of the Carter Bridge from Ido to Idumota. The contract was awarded to A Abicon Engineering Limited.

N220million was spent on the facility management of the Lagos State University College of Medicine; contract also awarded to Deux Projects Limited. The surface repair on Ajara-Erekiti-Iragon-Ikoga Road in Badagry local government was awarded for N619million.

“I don’t sign cheques, none of my commissioners never sign a cheque. I never signed a cheque. It’s a institutional process. I don’t sit in award for contracts; there is a state tender board and later the state procurement agency” Fashola simply told members of the red chambers.

Speaking further Fashola responded to the question on the repatriation of destitute by his administration to their various states.

“We didn’t just collect destitute, we were taken to court and the court found no merit in the claim. We took some of these people from the streets, sick and rehabilitated them and they claim to want return home and we did base on the information they gave us. I apologies again in the interest of national, but we did what must be done.”

                              
In a bid to fulfill one of his campaign promises of investing massively in the construction of rural roads, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State, on Monday unveiled plans to commence the reconstruction of 114 roads across the 20 Local Governments and 37 Local Council Development Areas in the State.

Ambode who disclosed that two roads will be constructed in each of the 20 LGAs and 37 LCDAs, however, charged the Councils’ Executive Secretaries to judiciously ensure that the projects meet international standard.

Ambode of Lagos State (middle) with the Secretary to the State Government, Mr Tunji Bello (2nd right) and member, Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Bisi Yusuf (left) during the Governor’s inspection of Ayetoro road, Ipaja-Ayobo, yesterday.

Speaking at the Lagos House, Ikeja during the monthly meeting with the Executive Secretaries of the 57 Councils to review the progress report in their various communities as well as their challenges, Governor Ambode said the decision to embark on the road rehabilitation was in line with the reforms at the local government level, noting that the first phase will commence with the reconstruction of 114 roads, two per local government, at the cost of N19 billion.

The Governor, who said the execution of the project will be left in the care of the local governments, however tasked the Executive Secretaries to ensure that only the best contractors are engaged to ensure that the prescribed standard is met on all the roads.

“We expect you to create jobs in your communities and get our people employed on these projects,” he said.

Governor Ambode said that the ongoing reforms in the councils are geared towards making them more effective and deliver better service to their communities, saying that the new structure which has become operational will go a long way to reduce cost of governance.

“With this new structure, a lot is expected from you, the Executive Secretaries. You are the face of the government in your communities. Your people must know you and you must know the people”.

“You must have a good knowledge of their challenges and be able to, jointly with them, proffer solutions that the government can implement. You should live with your people. There is no reason why an Executive Secretary of a Local Government should live outside his community”, he said.

He reminded the Executive Secretaries that the performance of the administration will be judged by their performance, urging them to improve on sanitation, primary healthcare delivery, primary education, local government roads and community security in their Councils.

He also charged them to utilise the various channels of communication to improve the level of participation between the Community Development Committees (CDCs) Community Development Associations (CDAs), Local Councils, Local Governments and the State Government.

“This chain of communication must be fluid and information should flow either way. You have created websites; we have erected boundary demarcation sign posts and created phone lines for easier access to the Local Governments and Councils. We expect all these to ensure better communication with your communities and for the people to know which Local Governments they reside in,” he said.

The Governor also reiterated his promise to run an inclusive government and return governance to the communities, saying it was the surest way to give the people a stake in governance.

“This is a government of continuity with improvement. As such our people must feel that improvement. They must experience that improvement. They can only feel it if you are dedicated to serve them. As we work on ways to improve the lives of our people, I charge you all to get involved in your communities. You must live with your community and you should be accessible to them”.

“Community Governance should be our priority as we have promised. We can only consider our administration a success if we can touch the lives of all our citizens positively in any community they reside. That is the challenge facing you and I,” he said.

Following the ongoing Sallah celebrations, the Lagos state government has suspended the monthly environmental sanitation exercise which was supposed to be on Saturday, September 26.

The monthly exercise which restricts human and vehicular movements was suspended by the government to ease free movement of Muslim faithfuls and others who would travel to various destinations for the Eid-el-Kabir celebrations.

Announcing the government’s decision on Wed, September 23, the permanent secretary, Lagos state ministry of environment, Oluwatoyin Onisarotu, advised Lagosians to celebrate in moderation.

He stated that residents of the state should use the opportunity of the festive period to clean their environment and properly bag their wastes to allow for easy collection and disposal to designated dumpsites by government agents and accredited operators.

He said: “All citizens of Lagos State are urged to join the government’s crusade to attain a cleaner, healthier and a more sustainable environment, capable of promoting economic growth and the well-being of the entire citizenry.”

“The rainy season is not yet over; there could still cases of flooding in the metropolis. The state has been free from flooding because of the abatement measures taken by the government.”

Muslims all over the world are celebrating Eid-el-Kabir today and tomorrow, September 24 and 25 respectively. The federal government had declared both days as public holidays to commemorate the Muslim festival.