General
Lagos Unveils Dates for Decontamination of Offices, House of Assembly, Others
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Lagos State government is taking no chances and it is doing everything within its powers to curtail the spread of the second wave of COVID-19 in the metropolis.
On Saturday, it announced the extension of the work-from-home directive to workers on its payroll on Grade 14 below till Monday, February 1, 2021, and during this period, it is decontaminating the offices to make them safe for workers when they fully resume.
For more than two weeks, the state government under the leadership of Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu will fumigate offices in the State Secretariat Complex in Alausa, Ikeja and other others across the state.
According to a statement signed by the Permanent Secretary, Office of Environmental Services, Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, Mrs Belinda Odeneye, the exercise had become necessary to reduce the risk of the spread of COVID-19 in the state secretariat.
She emphasised that the government will continue to adopt measures as part of the safety protocols to ensure that the pandemic does not further spread in the state, saying that the fumigation exercise will be a continuous process until the virus was contained.
Mrs Odeneye said the decontamination exercise commenced on Friday, January 15, 2021, with the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, Lands Bureau, and Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development is expected to end on Saturday, January 30, 2021.
The PS added that the exercise would commence at 2 pm during weekdays, while it would start at 8 am on weekends and urged all workers to vacate their offices and complex on stipulated days to avoid inhaling chemicals used during the fumigation exercise.
According to the schedule, the Office of the Head of Service/PSO, Ministry of Special Duties & Inter-Governmental Relations, Management Services and Reforms Office, Office of Transformation, Creativity and Innovation, Ministry of Agriculture, Office of Public-Private Partnership, Lagos State Public Procurement Agency and Office of Civic Engagement was fumigated on Saturday, January 16, 2021, while the Office of Secretary to the State Government Cabinet Office, Office of the State Auditor General, Audit Service Commission, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Education, Office of Education Quality Assurance are to be fumigated on Sunday, January 17, 2021.
The Office of the Deputy Governor, Ministry of Local Government & Community Affairs, Civil Service Commission, Ministry of Tourism, Arts & Culture, Ministry of Waterfront Infrastructure will be fumigated on Monday, January 18, 2021, in addition to the Ministry of Works & Infrastructure, Ministry of Housing, Civil Service Pensions Office, Ministry of Information & Strategy and Ministry of Health will be decontaminated on Tuesday, January 19, 2021.
The Staff Clinic, Ministry of Transportation, Ministry of Establishments, Training & Pensions, Central Business Districts Office, Motor Vehicle Administration Agency, Ministry of Commerce, Industry & Cooperatives are slated for fumigation on Wednesday, January 20, 2021, and the Ministry of Wealth Creation & Employment, Ministry of Energy & Mineral Resources, Ministry of Home Affairs, Lagos State Liaison Office Annexe, Lagos State Valuation Office, Lagos State Real Estate Transaction Department and the Lagos State Planning & Environmental Monitoring Authority are scheduled for Thursday, January 21, 2021.
The State Treasury Office, Ministry of Finance, ABAT CENTRE, SPDV, Ministry of Science & Technology and the Ministry of Youth and Social Development are to be fumigated on Friday, January 22, 2021, while Ministry of Women Affairs & Poverty Alleviation, Lagos State Safety Commission, Ministry of Economic Planning & Budget, Lagos State Water Regulatory Commission and the Lagos Television LTV Complex, Agidingbi, are to be decontaminated on January 23, 2021.
Also, the State House of Assembly Complex, LASEPA Building, LASEMA, Fire Service Office – Alausa, Digital Village and RRS & GMT will be fumigated on Sunday, January 24, 2021.
The exercise moves to the Old Secretariat, Ikeja, on Monday, January 25, 2021, with Local Government Service Commission, Local Government Establishment & Pensions Office, Teachers Establishment & Pensions Office, Office of the Auditor General for Local Governments, Office of Youth & Social Development (COURT), Lagos State Coconut Development Authority, Muslim Pilgrims Board, Christian Pilgrims Board, Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA), Lagos State Electricity Board (LSEB), and Lagos State Urban Renewal Agency (LASURA) on Monday, January 25, 2021.
It would be the turn of the Lagos House/Office of the Governor, Office of Chief of Staff and Lagos Global on Tuesday, January 26, 2021.
The exercise will continue on January 27, 2021, at Lagos State Parks and Gardens Agency (LASPARK), Lagos State Signage and Advertising Agency (LASAA), JJT and Ndubuisi Kanu Parks, Staff Canteen and Adeyemi-Bero Auditorium.
The Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) and Lagos Water Corporation (LWC), Lagos State Printing Corporation, Office Of Surveyor-General, Arts and Culture, Debt Management Office and Lagos State Residents’ Registration Agency (LASRAA) Office are scheduled for Thursday, January 28, 2021.
The fumigation exercise holds in Oshodi on January 29, 2021, at the offices of LASTMA, LASDRI, Lagos State Task Force, KAI Office, Neighbourhood Watch and LAW Reform Commission and would be rounded up on January 30, 2021, with the Lagos State Material Testing Laboratory, Public Works Bureau, Lagos State Cooperative College (Johnson Agiri) Oko-Oba, Agege and Lagos State Records and Archives Bureau.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has said it would continue the probe of a former Managing Director of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Mr Ahmed Farouk, despite the withdrawal of the petition by Mr Aliko Dangote.
The agency said it had received a “notice of withdrawal” of the petition against Mr Ahmed, submitted by a legal counsel to the petitioner.
Recall that Mr Dangote had alleged that Mr Ahmed, a public servant, spent over $7 million in public funds on the education of his four children in different schools in Switzerland, allegedly paying fees upfront for a period of six years.
In December, the businessman demanded the arrest, investigation, and prosecution of the former MD for allegedly living above his means as a public servant.
In the petition, Mr Dangote listed the children and their schools in Switzerland, including the amount paid for each of them to establish his allegations and verification by the anti-graft agency.
Mr Ahmed denied the allegations, describing them as “wild and spurious”.
The ex-NMDPRA boss has since resigned from his position, prompting a withdrawal of the petition by the businessman.
However, the ICPC said in line with the provisions of sections 3(14) and 27(3) of its enabling law, it would continue to investigate the matter in line with its statutory mandate and in the interest of transparency, accountability, and the fight against corruption for the benefit of Nigeria.
“The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) is in receipt of a letter dated January 5, 2026, titled “Notice of Withdrawal of Petition against Engineer Farouk Ahmed,” submitted to the Commission by Dr. O.J. Onoja, SAN and Associates, legal counsel to Alhaji Aliko Dangote,” a statement by the spokesperson of the commission, Mr J. Okor Odey, partly read.
“The letter from O. J. Onoja SAN, states that the petitioner has withdrawn the petition dated 16 December, 2025, submitted against Engineer Farouk Ahmed, the immediate past ACE/CEO of the NMDPRA, in its entirety, and that another law enforcement agency has taken over.
“The ICPC wishes to state categorically that, in line with the provisions of sections 3(14) and 27(3) of its enabling Act, the investigations in the interest of the Nigerian people and the Nigerian state have already commenced and are presently ongoing,” the statement added.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Members of the Rivers State House of Assembly have commenced impeachment proceedings against Governor Sim Fubara.
The exercise commenced on Thursday and if successful, it would see the removal of Mr Fubara from office by the state parliament.
This is coming less than less than four months after he was restored as the Governor of the oil-rich state from a six-month suspension on democracy in the state.
In March 2025, President Bola Tinubu suspected Mr Fubara and the Rivers State House of Assembly over political tension between the Governor and his predecessor, Mr Nyesom Wike, who is now the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja.
A peace deal was reportedly brokered by Mr Tinubu between Mr Fubara and Mr Wike but things fell apart a few months after.
The Rivers Assembly is populated by loyalists of Mr Wike and has lawmakers from the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
A few weeks ago, the Governor decamped from the PDP to the APC, in a move described as a masterstroke because it was calculated that it would free Mr Fubara from the grip of Mr Wike, who has been expelled from the PDP but yet to join the APC.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The petition filed by Mr Aliko Dangote to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) against the former chief executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Mr Farouk Ahmed, has been withdrawn.
The businessman had accused Mr Ahmed of using his office to enrich himself and living above his means.
According Mr Dangote, the former NMDPRA chief spent about $7 million belonging to Nigerians for the primary education of his four children in Switzerland.
In the heat of this, Mr Ahmed resigned from the position, with the ICPC promising to further look into the matter.
It was gathered that the owner of the Lagos-based Dangote Petroleum Refinery has withdrawn his petition against Mr Ahmed from the ICPC because a similar complaint is already being investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The ICPC, in a statement signed by its Head of Media and Public Communications, Mr John Okor Odey, on Wednesday said, “The ICPC is in receipt of a letter dated January 5, 2025, titled ‘Notice of Withdrawal of Petition against Engineer Farouk Ahmed’, submitted to the commission by Dr. O.J. Onoja, SAN and Associates, legal counsel to Aliko Dangote.
“The letter states that the petitioner has withdrawn the petition dated December 16, 2025, submitted against Engineer Farouk Ahmed, the immediate past ACE/CEO of the NMDPRA, in its entirety, and that another law enforcement agency has taken over.
“The ICPC wishes to state categorically that, in line with the provisions of Sections 3(14) and 27(3) of its enabling Act, investigations in the interest of the Nigerian people and the Nigerian state have already commenced and are presently ongoing.
“The ICPC will therefore continue to investigate this matter in line with its statutory mandate and in the interest of transparency, accountability and the fight against corruption for the benefit of Nigeria.”
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