Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode is set to purchase two helicopters to stem the tide of loss of lives in the state during tragedies.
As part of the purchase arrangement, the state government is to swap its current two helicopters with those that can be conveniently deployed for rescue operations in the event of tragedies.
One of the two helicopters of the state is currently being managed by Bristow Helicopters for commercial purposes, while the other is being used to transport by officials of the state government on essential services.
This was contained in the report of the ad hoc committee set up by the Lagos State House of Assembly on a request for budget re-ordering by the state governor.
During the presentation of the report of the committee, Lagos Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa, queried the logic behind the purchase of two helicopters when the ones owned by government were still functional.
Chairman of the committee, Rotimi Olowo, in response, said: “The two helicopters earlier purchased cannot meet the safety needs of the state and as such the government will swap the existing ones with new ones that can effectively cater for security and safety needs of the state.”
On his part, Chief Whip of the Assembly, Rotimi Abiru, questioned the approval by the committee of re-ordering of funds meant for the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), since it was a World Bank-funded project.
Again, Olowo clarified that the LAMATA project was being funded from the counterpart fund, and in the 2015 budget of the state, only N7 billion had been spent out of the N17 billion approved.
Adebisi Yusuf representing Alimosho I also commended the committee for the “wonderful job” saying a surgical operation had been performed on the budget re-ordering.
Also commenting, Tunde Braimoh representing Kosofe II noted that Lagos was in for a better time even as the year was winding down. He commended the committee for doing a “brilliant job” and urged the House to adopt the report of the committee without delay.
