The Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola, BRF as he is popularly known has being a role model to many, earned a lot of respect from many Lagosians and other observers at large. He's proven to be different from the other politicians (or maybe he is "not a politician but a professional" as some will prefer to argue. Hence, he stands out uniquely or so do most of us think.
Let do this mental analysis again on the "City of Excellence".
Browsing through the internet, i came across this interesting article. It is obviously written by people who have facts and figures. It is quite long, but it is worthy of the time.
Enjoy and try to have an open mind.
http://www.thewillnigeria.com/politics/17289.html
"Tinubu
Is Lagos"
A contractor (name withheld) needed to collect his payment
for a contract he executed for the Lagos State Government. Having met a brick
wall everywhere he went in the pursuit of his payment, his boon came up with a
quick-fix. “Let’s go and see the ‘Lion of Bourdillon,’” he suggested to his
contractor-friend.
The contractor and his friend eventually managed to arrange
a meeting with the ‘Lion’ at his Bourdillon Road, Ikoyi residence in the wee
hours of the day. And as the ‘Lion’ listened to the contractor as he narrated
his story, it was apparent that he was tired as all he could do in response was
to yawn as he dragged himself from his chair.
“Lagos is tired,” the ‘Lion’ muttered, walking towards his
bedroom, adding, “Eko wants to rest,” without minding his guests.
The bewildered contractor and his friend were confused as to
what to do next as the ‘Lion’ banged the door behind them and went off to
sleep. Some aides of the ‘Lion’ however advised the early-morning visitors to
come back later that day and preferably at midnight.
When the duo returned at midnight, they had to wait till the
wee hours again before being allowed to see the ‘Lion.’ This time, the ‘Lion’
had their time as he simply dialed a number, using his mobile phone and the
contractor’s problem was instantly solved.
There is no doubt that Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu has become
a personification of Lagos. Just as his word is law, he can do and undo. What
started out like an act of drama at the beginning of the current democratic
dispensation in 1999 has left Nigeria’s premier state, Lagos, as a mere fiefdom
of Tinubu who bears the titular toga of the “Lion of Bourdillon.” Though there
is nothing democratic about his bearing, he is, in fact, an Emperor.
And there is no escaping the damning reality that Lagos is
being plundered by a group of political usurpers who wear the cloak of
democratic emancipators in an apparent case of parading immunity as
impunity.
It is, indeed, an irony that the people of the South-west ,
despite their sophistication, have been hoodwinked into the present pitfall
through the doctrines of the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, being propagated
by some desperate self-acclaimed messiahs. These masquerades disguised as
democrats on the platform of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO),
purporting to emancipate the South-west from the injustice of the annulment of
the June 12, 1993 presidential election won by a Yoruba son, the late Chief
M.K.O. Abiola. Sadly, they only ended up foisting a most fraudulent
robber-baron on the Yoruba nation.
A man with a questionable past is today addressed as Bola
Ahmed Tinubu and he could bear any name from his weird past such as Yekini
Amoda Ogunlere, Hameed Sangodele, Yekini Amoda or even Bobo Chicago. Ever
since his inglorious eight years rule as Governor of Lagos from 1999 to 2007 on
the platform of the Alliance for Democracy (AD), to date, he has more or less
served as the chief looter who has unleashed the most egregious corruption and
reckless looting on the treasury of Lagos State. Even as he hides under the
guise of championing democratic principles, various frauds including financial
crimes have been linked to him such that he can only be summed up as a
perpetrator of diabolical deeds.
Tinubu was formally arraigned before the Code of Conduct
tribunal in Abuja to defend himself against allegations that he operated
foreign bank accounts between 1999 and 2007, while in office as governor, thus
contravening Section 7 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, Cap 56
LFN, 1990.
The chairman of the tribunal, Justice Danladi Yakubu Umar,
indeed had his hands full with the many charges against Tinubu. The charge
sheet signed by the chief prosecutor, Kyari Ahmed, read : “That you Bola Ahmed
Tinubu, former governor of Lagos State, being a public officer, as listed in
part II of the fifth schedule to the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic
of Nigeria and having subscribed to the Oath of Office as enshrined in the
seventh schedule to the 1999 Constitution on assumption in office, as such
engaged yourself in the operation and maintenance of several foreign bank
accounts namely:
“Name of Bank – First Heritage Bank, Country Club Hill,
Illinois, USA; Account Name, Bola Tinubu, Account Number – 263226700. Name of
Bank – Citi Bank NA. New York, USA; Account Name – Bola Tinubu and Compass
Finance and investment Company Limited; Account Nos – 39483134, 39483396,
4650279566, 00400220, 39936383. Name of Bank. Citi Bank International,
New York; Account Name, Bola Tinubu. Name of Bank – HSBC, 177 Great
Portland Street London WIW60J: Account Name Sen Bola Tinubu; Account No.
71253670, Sort code-40-03-15. Name of Bank – HSBC, 177 Great Portland Street
London WIW 60J; Account Name; Sen. Bola Oluremi Tinubu, Account No. 71253670,
sort code 40-03-15. Name of Bank – HSBC, 177 Great Portland street London WIW
60J Account name, Sen. Bola Tinubu – money market, Account No.04320002DN. Name
of Bank – HSBC, 177 Great Portland Street, London WIW 60J; Account name: Tinubu
Zainab Abisola (Miss); Account No. 172447101. Name of Bank – HSBC, 177 Great
Portland Street, London WIW 60J; Account Name, Tinubu Oluremi Shade, Account
No. 41421522.”
The Society for Rule of Law in Nigeria (SRLN), has since
hailed the Code of Conduct Tribunal over the criminal trial of Tinubu. The
group described the trial as a welcome development, adding that “Nigerians,
irrespective of their political affiliations, must begin to speak with one
voice against corruption, because it (corruption) has no political party.”
In a statement issued by its Coordinator, Comrade Chima
Ubeku, the SRLN said inter alia: “This is a kind of news that gladdens our
hearts and we hope that the Code of Conduct Tribunal will pursue the case to a
logical conclusion. He lied on oath by refusing to declare the operation of
many foreign bank accounts in the assets declaration form CCB-1 he submitted to
the Code of Conduct Bureau on 6th January, 2004. We are also waiting to hear
from those bread and butter groups to make the kind of noise that they used to
make whenever a People’s Democratic Party (PDP) member is on trial for alleged
corruption….”
However, in what many have come to accept as a political
deal for delivering the South-west to the ruling PDP, the Federal Government
let Tinubu off the hook and the matter was thrown out of the Tribunal on
technical grounds.
Tinubu’s dubious activities came to the fore quite early
during his tenure as Lagos Governor. After just being sworn-in in 1999, the
late legal luminary and human rights lawyer, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, instituted
legal actions challenging Tinubu’s academic qualifications, which were
discovered to be forged. The case of perjury, which has been hanging on his
neck ever since then is yet to be dispensed with, even as he can no longer hide
under immunity clause as a Governor. Being the questionable character he is
said to be, the only response Tinubu could give to the premeditated Lagos House
Assembly Ad-hoc Committee set up to clear him of the perjury charge raised
against him by Chief Fawehinmi in 1999 was to admit full responsibility for
some of the "needless errors,” whatever that means.
He told the convoluted story to the Kangaroo committee that
as a result of the acrimonious primaries of the Alliance for Democracy in the run-up
to the elections, that the information contained in both the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) form and the affidavit of loss of
certificates were supplied by one of his political aides, Senator Tokunbo
Afikuyomi.
While the fraud spotted in the INEC Form CFO1 had exposed
Tinubu as claiming that he attended St. Paul’s Primary School, Aroloya, Lagos
for his primary school education, the Ad-hoc Committee helped him adjust it to
the claim that he attended St. John's Primary School, Aroloya, Lagos. It was
clearly a case of a grand fraud applied to cover an initial fraud because all
through the findings of the kangaroo committee, no mention was made of any
testimony from any of Tinubu’s classmates in the primary or secondary schools
supporting his claims. It is as though Tinubu attended the school alone! The
case has however refused to die as questions are frequently being asked on what
has happened to the case.
The irrepressible Senator Ogunlewe had asked then: “Did
Tinubu lie under oath that he attended St. Paul’s Primary School, Aroloya,
Lagos, which was not and is not in existence; Government College, Ibadan and
the University of Chicago?”
Some political pundits opine that the case is still being
covered because Tinubu still goes ahead to bribe those who could bring him to
justice on the issue, including security agencies. He keeps boasting that he
will always get off the hook because all officials within the Nigerian system
have their price tags.
It needs to be recalled that in 2007, a group called the
Lagos Progressive Movement fingered Tinubu and his political godson, Babatunde
Raji Fashola, in a huge land scam running into several billions of Naira in
Lagos State. In a public statement issued on the matter, the group had noted:
“We, the Lagos Progressives Movement once again wish to update fellow
Nigerians on the various land scams perpetuated by former Governor Bola Tinubu
and being covered up by Governor Babatunde Fashola. The facts are true and
verifiable. We have gone further to quote real names of collaborators and
addresses of properties for readers to verify themselves. Tinubu is the number
one landlord in Lagos and has turned Lagos land worth trillions of Naira into
his personal possession to be used freely or given away unaccounted for. Even
after he left office, Tinubu continues to steal Lagos land under the watch of
Fashola. He gives out Lagos land to curry political favours and still
occasionally signs certificates of occupancy even as ex-governor and backdating
them to the period he was in office. These brazen acts of corruption are being
perpetrated with the active collaboration of select few public officers who are
obscenely wealthy at the expense of Lagos tax payers. His accomplices in the
frauds are Gbenga Ashafa - former Permanent Secretary, Land’s Bureau,
since 2001; Mrs. Awofisayo - former Permanent Secretary and a relation of
Bola Tinubu from Iragbiji, Osun State; Hakeem Muri-Okunola - former Personal
Assistant (PA) to Tinubu and now Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Lands; Mrs
Nike Animashaun and Tunji Olowolafe, who was arrested by the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) and detained for three days and later released,
following the allegations of financial impropriety levelled against Governor
Babatunde Fashola.
These people are arguably the wealthiest unelected public
servants ever in the history of Lagos State. They are major wheelers and
dealers of prime land. We mentioned in our earlier publication that the Land’s
Bureau at Alausa stinks of corruption. We catalogue below a few brazen acts of
stealing and corruption committed by Tinubu and aided by Fashola on the good
tax payers of Lagos. Tinubu’s greed and primitive acquisition tendency knows no
bound. In fact, it is believed that Lagos land personally appropriated by him
is worth over N500 billion and this is growing because he hasn’t stopped. Some
of the properties outside the hands of the single largest landlord and which
investigations have revealed are as follows:
1. 4, Oyinkan Abayomi (formerly Queens) Drive, Ikoyi: A
5-bedroom detached house on one acre of land which was originally the Lagos
State Governor’s guest house since 1979, but which now belongs to Tinubu. The
certificate of occupancy of the property valued at N450 million was signed and
released to him by Fashola in 2007 shortly after he assumed office.
2. Tinubu’s residence at 26 Bourdillon Road, Ikoyi was
initially falsely presented as Oando Plc Guest House. Later, he purportedly
bought it from Oando, and used public funds to rebuild and renovate it. The
Lagos State Government bought the property and paid an undisclosed sum to him
and thereafter gave the property back to him under the bogus Pension Bill he
signed to law shortly before he left office in 2007. The property is worth over
N600 million.
3. The annex of the Lagos State Guest House in Asokoro,
Abuja was bought by the State Government in 2006 for N450 million, purportedly
to protect the main house from security breach. Shortly after Tinubu left
office, the property was transferred to him under the pension plan he signed
into law before leaving office.
4. The 250-hectare land valued at about N35billion and
strategically located at the Ajah junction on Lekki Road was initially meant
for a General Hospital for the people of Eti-Osa Local Government but was
stolen by Tinubu and handed over to Trojan Estate Ltd - a company owned by Deji
and Wale Tinubu - to develop as Royal Garden Housing Estate at the expense of
the taxpayers of Lagos.
5. The 1,000 hectares of land valued at about N75billion
located at Lakowe near Abijo at Ibeju-Lekki Local Government and given to
Lekki Concession Company (LCC) which is partly- owned by Tinubu and Fashola and
being developed as golf course and housing estate by Assets and Resource Management
Ltd (ARM) as ADIVA project.
6. The prime land of 157 hectares with 2.5km of Atlantic
beachfront valued at about N10billion and stolen by Tinubu from the communities
of Siriwon, Igbekodo, Apakin, etc in Ibeju-Lekki Local Government and given to
Ibukun Fakeye - his crony to build a golf course and luxury villa with little
or no compensation to the villagers. In addition, Tinubu paid $20million
(N3billion) out of public treasury to Ibukun Fakeye to commence the project in
late 2006. Fashola has since released additional funding for this project,
which is not owned by the state government.
7. The 14-hectare Parkview Ikoyi Estate foreshore land
reclaimed by Lagos State Government is now owned by Bola Tinubu.
8. While in office, he allocated to himself the former
Strabag yard beside the Lagos State Secretariat at Alausa, Ikeja. The property
is now being developed into a shopping mall as big as the Palms in Lekki. This
is public property brazenly stolen and now owned by Tinubu, aided by
Fashola.
9. The choice property at Lekki-Epe road on which he built
and owns the multi-billion naira Oriental Hotel and the extension of
multi-storey car park beside it. Also, the multi-level recreation centre by
Mobil in Oniru Estate on Lekki-Epe road jointly owned with ARM and Tunji
Olowolafe. All these assets valued at over N25billion were obtained without
paying a kobo to the Lagos State Government.
10. Tinubu and Fashola sold the following prime Lagos
properties to their personal friend and front - Prince Dipo Eludoyin at very
ridiculous prices:
·
The
3.8-hectare of land of Lagos State Fisheries office in VI (beside the Institute
of Oceanography) valued at N3billion.
·
The
fishery landing jetty at Badore (where the Ilubirin fishermen were to be
relocated) valued at N500million
·
The
entire Ogudu foreshore scheme initially earmarked for a low-cost housing scheme
valued at N5billion
·
The
Ilubinrin housing estate (which used to house Lagos state civil servants and
judges up till 2007) valued at N2.5billion.
·
The
former Julius Berger yard at Oko Orisan, Epe valued at N450million.
11. Tinubu raised a loan of N4.7billion on Eko Akete project
for which nothing was achieved before he turned around to sell the property to
his Chagouri friends of Chagouri & Chagouri and Hitech Construction Ltd at
a ridiculously low price at the expense of the taxpayers of Lagos.
12. Tinubu applied to personally purchase the Federal
Secretariat building while in office. When he couldn’t get to buy it, he
directed Fashola to stop the eventual owner of the complex to develop it. The
complex is presently wasting away courtesy of the Lagos State Government.
13. It took several months of horse trading and underhand
payments before Fashola could allow the new owners of 1004 flats to
redevelop the complex.
14. Several other buyers of Federal Government properties
and developers of properties in Ikoyi, Victoria Island and Government
Reservation Area Ikeja were forced to succumb to the outrageous demands of
Tinubu, Fashola, Commissioner Abosede and other officials of the Lagos State
Physical Planning Ministry and were made to pay ridiculous amounts to private
accounts before their redevelopments were approved. Those who refused or were
unable to pay could not develop their properties. This is a major economic
strangulation of property developers and has contributed largely to the
skyrocketing rent in Ikoyi, VI and Lekki axis.
15. Tinubu converted all the plots of land where Lagos
Polytechnic was located at Ikosi near the old toll gate. He chased away the
Polytechnic in 2006 and went ahead to locate the choice plots to himself, his
cronies and political associates. The headquarters of Television Continental
(TVC), which is owned by him, is located there. He deprived the youths of
Lagos of decent education because of his greed.
16. Tinubu singlehandedly sold the prime land on Aboyade
Cole, Victoria Island which was recovered from some allotees, to UACN
Properties Plc. The amount of proceeds was shrouded in secrecy.
17. Eludoyin, fronting for Tinubu, built the estate directly
opposite Goshen Beach Estate in Lekki area.
18. Tinubu’s wife, Remi Tinubu, built the massive New Era
Foundation youth camp at the junction of Eleko, off the Lekki-Epe express road,
with Lagos State funds and has now converted it to personal use.
19. Tinubu owns the Fara Park Estate and the Beach Wood
Estate both in Lekki.
20. The Critical Care unit at the Lagos State University
Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) in Ikeja, built and equipped with state funds, is
now owned personally by Tinubu. He has put one Dr. Sikiru Tinubu, (a supposed
cousin of his) to run the outfit. It is run as a private unit and the proceeds
are pocketed by the duo. The unit charges its users exorbitantly and most
Lagosians can hardly afford to pay its high charges. Much of the revenue is
derived from fees paid by the State Government for patients referred there by
its General Hospitals.
21. Several prominent Nigerians in the judiciary, police,
INEC, and other sensitive agencies have obtained prime land from former Governor
Tinubu and incumbent Governor Fashola over the years without paying a kobo.
Many of them had turned around to sell the land to third parties at substantial
profit. Many top officials in the police, INEC and the judiciary who
participated in the 2003 and 2007 elections and tribunals in states where
Tinubu has interest were compromised with parcels of free prime Lagos land and
cash. If the Lagos State Land’s Bureau could publish the names and identities
of beneficiaries of land allotees from 2000 to date, the scandal that
will result is better imagined. Gbenga Ashafa, now a Senator, and Mrs.
Awofisayo were the conduits through which these acts were being perpetrated.
Both were also personally involved in various dubious land transactions on
their own.
22. Prime land and properties have been used to pay off
public officials who are personally close to Tinubu and Fashola for “jobs well
done” or for being privy to sensitive information, notably:
(a) Dele Alake, former Commissioner for Information and
Strategy, was sold a whole house on Alexander Road, Ikoyi where he lived as
official quarters at a give-away price.
(b) Rauf Aregbesola, Osun State Governor, who was a
former Commissioner in Lagos as well as Muiz Banire, also a former
commissioner, got detached houses at Ladoke Akintola Street, GRA Ikeja for
their “good job” while serving under Tinubu.
(c) Yemi Cardoso and Wale Edun, both former commissioners,
were sold houses on Iru Close, and another location in old Ikoyi at give-away
prices by Tinubu. The list is endless.
23. Governor Fashola in the wake of the petition against him
presented by “The True Face of Lagos” to the House of Assembly has succeeded in
buying his way out of trouble by bribing each of the 40 immediate past members
with cash and prime state land at Abijo GRA, off Lekki-Epe road. He, in
addition, bought a N40million bulletproof jeep for the Speaker in a desperate
bid to ward off investigation by the Assembly.
These corrupt acts have deprived the taxpayers of Lagos
billions in revenue which could have been used for public projects. Indeed, the
prime land stolen from the Lekki axis is enough to build the Lekki-Epe road
without burdening residents and other taxpayers with the 30-year concession
toll road.
We know that people will say: why don’t you take this matter
to EFCC? Well the EFCC appears compromised on matters concerning Tinubu. If
not, how come he has not been charged to court despite several petitions
against him and in spite of Nuhu Ribadu’s boastful claims that he had enough
evidence to nail him?
It is evident that Tinubu is deliberately being shielded
from prosecution. Tinubu left office about six years ago and lost his immunity
but where is the Nigeria Police? But we know that eventually, his cup will run
over and he will be brought to justice. And why is there a conspiracy of
silence by those known to be dogged fighters of corruption? Why are they
watching as both men appear to be getting away with corruption? We hope
Lagosians will wake up and fight for their rights. The elite should speak out
now and force the EFCC to take action. We once again call on the elders of
Lagos, the elite at the Lagos Island Club, Ikoyi Club, Lawn Tennis Club, Yoruba
Tennis Club, Ikeja Country Club, Eko Club, Metropolitan Club, The Boat Club,
Apapa Club, etc. We also call on the religious leaders, prominent traditional
rulers, the media, opinion molders and members of civil society to speak out.
Let us join hands in the collective effort to call on the anti-corruption
agencies, and in particular the EFCC, to act now and move into the Land’s
Bureau and the State’s Treasury Office at Alausa to conduct a thorough
investigation on land matters from 2000 to date. We assure the public that if
this is done transparently, it might be possible to recover trillions of naira
stolen from the tax payers of Lagos.’’
It will be interesting to follow up on what has happened to
the EFCC intervention in the case of allegations of fraud leveled against Gov.
Fashola, by a body known as The True Face of Lagos , which led to the arrest,
detention and eventual release of one Dr. Tunji Olowolafe, a prominent
contractor and friend of both Tinubu and Fashola. He was arrested in
Lagos by operatives of the EFCC following its investigation into allegations of
financial crimes. Olowolafe, a medical doctor and owner of Deux Projects
Limited, whose company was used as front by the Lagos State governor to execute
inflated contracts, was arrested on Friday, April 23, 2010, after investigators
discovered that 27 contracts were awarded the company from the state Ministry
of Health and three from the Ministry of Education.
He was drilled for three days while in the anti-graft body’s
custody and was believed to have made significant and useful contributions to
the EFCC efforts to unravel facts on the various allegations of corruption
against Fashola, which also led to the invitation of Fashola himself and some
members of his cabinet.
Despite the established fact that Deux Projects Limited
collected more than N10 billion from the state coffers, nothing has been heard
of the case even in the face of damning confessions by Olowolafe to the EFCC
while in their custody.
It is worrisome that the anti-graft body has failed to make
public its findings over a year now after confirming that investigation
was ongoing, with the promise that many more arrests were likely to be made
then. It smacks of a cover-up that nothing has been heard since the EFCC
extended invitations to three serving commissioners in Lagos State, namely
Rotimi Agunsoye of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs; Rotimi
Oyekan of Finance and Jide Idris of Health. Also invited by the EFCC in
connection with the corruption allegations filed by the True Face of Lagos is
the Special Assistant to Fashola on Works and Infrastructure, Ganiu Johnson.
It is indeed remarkable that the petition against Fashola,
which led to the arrest of Olowolafe, went to the heart of the matter as
members of the group enunciated their desire, as tax payers and residents
, for accountability since taxes have recently become the major revenue base of
the Lagos State Government. According to them, in developed societies where
similar revenue regime operates, associations such as the group have acted as
government watchdogs.
The group thus stated: “This is why some of us have decided
to take up the gauntlet of championing the cause of taxpayers in the state.
After all, if we don’t pay our taxes, government can charge and eventually jail
us.’’
They revealed that in the last 10 years, tax revenue has
come to constitute about 75 percent of government revenue base, yet the
government never bothers to render account to taxpayers in Lagos. In the last
three years alone, a colossal sum of N1.1 trillion was budgeted by
Fashola’s government, with the government itself affirming that it has
consistently recorded a minimum of 75 percent of budget performance, out of
which 80 per cent came from Internally Generated Revenue (IGR). This is 30
percent more than the entire budgets recorded by successive governments between
1992 and 2007, a period spanning 15 years. The total tax revenue of Lagos last
year as the time of making the revelations showed that tax on a monthly basis
hovered between N14 and N17 billion while Federal Allocations stood at N6
billion monthly. This is more than the revenue of seven states in Nigeria put
together on a monthly basis.
One question that keeps coming however is how Fashola has
been spending the money. According to the group, “While we note the heavy
investments in roads and environmental infrastructure mainly, and commendably
so, there is the need to question some of the ways the governor has been
expending tax money which, in our opinion, reflects financial recklessness,
mismanagement, gross constitutional violations and abuse of office.”
Some of the allegations are as follows:
1. That in 2009, Fashola gave N250 million to the Rotimi
Akeredolu-led executive of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) for the NBA
conference held in Lagos, at a time when Lagos teachers and doctors were on
strike for improved welfare package.
2. The Babatunde Raji Fashola (BRF) government within six
months, January to June 2009, spent N420 million on the hiring of private
security – to guard who? – despite his heavy investment in the Police Force
through the State Security Trust Fund.
3. BRF spent N1.5 billion to demolish the Bank of Industry
(BOI) building, paying a company introduced by one Tunji Olowolafe in cash
transfer, only for him and his cronies to claim the land adjacent to it.
4. The BRF government awarded a part of Western Avenue
(Funsho Williams Road), about two kilometres road for N7.7 billion, just
between Abalti Barracks and Costain. And without the construction of any
bridge, the project was carried out by Julius Berger. This project must certainly
be investigated.
5. Between January and June 2009, the BRF government claimed
to have fuelled 225 vehicles in his office alone with N135 million. These
figures amount to about N800, 000 per day at a time that petrol was sold for
N65 per litre. The government always got fuel cheaper, but BRF claimed to have
bought it at N85 per litre.
6. Between January and June 2009, BRF’s Chief of Staff and
Personal Assistants expended N290 million in sending text messages and phone
calls on their lines.
7. It is also very sad to know that the BRF government
awarded the construction of a road and drains inside Gbagada General Hospital
for over N1.8 billion to the same Tunji Olowolafe’s company (DEUX Projects
Limited).
8. The sum of N1.5 billion of un-appropriated funds, without
approval, was claimed to have been spent on the demolition of Oshodi.
9. The Helicopter Deal was a big fraud. The helicopter was
not built for any kind of emergency evacuation, rescue or to even combat urban
fire. Over N5 billion has been spent on the two helicopters. And the seal of
Lagos State is not on it, and it is not even in Lagos but in the Niger Delta
making money for some private people in government. The whole helicopter deal
stinks to high heavens; it constitutes the biggest governmental fraud of all
times and confirms the rot in the State. See THISDAY December 19, 2009.
10. The Senior Special Assistant , SSA (Media) to BRF spent
N183 million in six months on press coverage and editors outside the approved
budget but funded directly from the Governor’s Office.
11. In a State where children are sitting on the floor in
classrooms, where unemployment is rampant and poverty pervasive, BRF paid the
wife of a controversial pastor over N600 million in two years for Christmas
decorations for about six streets in Lagos.
12. In six months, between January and June 2009, BRF spent
monies on several faceless organisations, subventions, grants and donations
such that they quickly pocketed N2 billion.
Other allegations of the group include:
1. The reckless increase and payment of over 60 percent
increase on the LASU – Iba road awarded by the Bola Tinubu government for N6.2
billion. It was jerked up to N10 billion less than two weeks that BRF came on
board.
2. The Tinubu administration awarded the construction of
City Hall for N2.3 billion. BRF only changed the floor tiles to marble tiles
and increased the contract sum to N5.2 billion. This project was increased by
126 percent.
3. Publishing of INDICATOR magazine is falsely presented to
the public as a private magazine but is actually coordinated by Tunji Olowolafe
and Hakeem Bello, SSA (Media) to BRF with government money.
4. BRF recently gave a media-related Permanent Secretary and
some others the sum of N100 million to do a soap opera on himself. They are
presently in London recording the film.
5. The BRF government has failed woefully in the area of
Public Private Partnership (PPP) in three years. Yet, BRF is paying the PPP
boss in Lagos State N2 million per month in violation of the Constitution, when
even commissioners recognised by the Constitution are receiving N300, 000 per
month. The PPP guy is the highest paid government official presiding over a
non-performing and failed parastatal.
6. The Beautification Programme of Fashola administration is
laden with corruption. In a State where there is no water, where over 90 per
cent of the road in Lagos is in a deplorable state of disrepair, he is spending
over N13 billion on planting grasses and flowers. Most of the money was spent
to import palm trees from Niger Republic, a Sahel region when Lagos is in the
rain forest, which explains why most of them have dried up.
7. It is important to note that the renovation of classrooms
of usually 12 blocks-plus-one which was done for N26 million by the Tinubu
administration up till 2007 was increased to N53 million with the collaboration
of the housing commissioner who is supervising projects in the education
ministry.
8. The CCTV project was awarded to BRF’s relation who claimed
to be acting for CISCO. The contract was awarded for $62 million dollars, while
the rejected quote for the contract was $30 million. It is important to note
that this is only a pilot scheme.
9. BRF’s wife travels abroad once bi-monthly and takes N30
million per trip from the State coffers, apart from her monthly running cost.
10. The mother of all rip-offs is the award to DEUX PROJECT
LIMITED, a company owned by the powerful Tunji Olowolafe, 11 out of 19
contracts in the Lagos State Ministry of Health between January and August
2009. Out of N5.6 billion contract in the Ministry of Health, Olowolafe alone
collected N5.1 billion worth and was paid 70 percent upfront in cash.
Here then are the unanswered questions:
1. Why did BRF divert N1.85 billion in the Ministry of Women
Affairs and Poverty Alleviation to a project that was not originally provided
for in the budget but promptly awarded to Olowolafe?
2. Why is the administration of a lawyer like Fashola
illegally deducting funds from the statutory allocation of the Local
Governments in Lagos State?
3. Why was the Mayegun Scheme sold to Olowolafe and other
friends and cronies against public interest without any independent valuation
by the relevant agency of government? Why is the size of the scheme shielded in
secrecy? Why was N5.2 billion for which the land was sold untraceable? Where is
the over N2 billion loan borrowed to sand-fill the place? What is the
fate of the tourism and art-craft sellers chased away from the place?
4. Pinnacle – why did the governor and his cronies engage in
the questionable transfer of 400 hectares of land to Pinnacle, South Africa,
when it is known that the company is almost bankrupt and the ABSA Bank now owns
over 60 percent of the company? What nature of PPP is this?
5. Why was the illegal sand-filling of about one kilometre
in the Badagry – Marina awarded for N1.5 billion out of which N700 million has
been paid, and yet the contractors and the Tourism Ministry have completely
destroyed all the historical relics and artifacts in the area? It has also
created an environmental disaster for West Africa because of greed. And it
appears the Commissioner has been settled.
Here’s a list of Fashola’s other alleged constitutional
violations:
1. Flagrant and deliberate disregard for the Appropriation
Law passed by the Lagos State House of Assembly, in violation of Section 120 of
the 1999 Constitution.
2. Criminal diversion of funds without due approval of the
Lagos State House of Assembly, in further violation of Section 120 (3) of the
1999 Constitution.
3. Indiscriminate award of contracts without due process,
without following the laid down financial regulation as well as the public
procurement guidelines. The payment of such contracts is in violation of Part
(E) Section 120(4) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
4. Illegal and unwarranted deductions from the Statutory
Allocation of the Local Governments. This is in direct contravention of Public
Revenue Provision of the 1999 Constitution and in violation of Section 162
sub-section 6, 7 and 8.
5. Indiscriminate borrowing by the Ministry of Finance
without legislative approval, which the Finance Commissioner calls bridging
loans, is a grave assault on fiscal federalism, a coup against financial
regulations and a shameful and criminal violation of Section 120(1), (2), (3)
and (4) of the 1999 Constitution.
6. Concentration of over 70 percent of Lagos State
Government contracts in the hands of one Tunji Olowolafe. This is the clearest
indication of the betrayal of trust by Governor Fashola. It is against the Oath
of Office he swore to; it is also a violation of Sections 14(4), 15(5) and
17(2a) of the 1999 Constitution on which social objective of a just, free and
equitable social order is founded.
7. Arbitrary use of Special Expenditure Vote for activities
not originally provided for under the Appropriation Law. This is a further
betrayal of fiscal federalism and a violation of provisions of Section 120(3)
and (4), and Section 123(1) and (2) of the 1999 Constitution.
8. Payment of 70 percent up-front to persons and cronies for
contracts not yet executed. Similarly, this is a contravention of Section
120(4) of the 1999 Constitution.
9. Giving arbitrary donations to selective professional
associations and faceless organisations for acting as sycophants without
appropriate authorisation by relevant constitutional bodies. This is a clear
violation of sections 120(4) and 123 of the 1999 Constitution
10. The fraudulent purported acquisition of two Bell 412 EP
series helicopters from a Canadian firm constitutes a flagrant violation
of Section 123(1) and (2) and Section 120(4) of the 1999 Constitution.
11. Furthermore, the award of contract of courts and other
judicial Infrastructure as well as procurement for the judiciary in Lagos State
by the Attorney-General, Tunji Olowolafe and Governor Fashola is in gross
violation of Section 121(3) of the 1999 Constitution.
In all these aberrations, the Lagos State House of Assembly
stands accused of keeping mute which portends that it has become inept,
archaic, drab, docile and inefficient. All the noise by the Assembly Speaker
about accountability and probity, according to the group, was only to enable
the legislators line their pockets and feed fat on the sweat and toil of the
people of the State.
The two leaders of the True Face of Lagos, Tunde
George and Kasali Martins, were forced to go underground to avoid death threats
from parties loyal to Fashola and Tinubu. Challenging the ‘Emperor of
Lagos’ and his godson is fraught with all sorts of dangers. There is a killer
gang in their employ known as Team Lagos. The very dangerous group is made up
of local thugs and enforcers, largely belonging to the National Union of Road
Transport Workers (NURTW). Each member of Team Lagos is paid N1 million every
last Tuesday of every month under the coordination of the musician, Wasiu
Ayinde Marshall.
As all opposition forces such as the True Face of Lagos
challenging the imperial domination of Lagos by Tinubu and Fashola are faced
with threats to their lives by the thugs known as Team Lagos, it has to be
stressed that even Tinubu and Fashola have had their share of quarrels in the
sharing of their spoils. The arrest of Olowolafe was said to be the climax of
the bitter feud between Tinubu and his godson over certain fundamental issues,
chief among which is the control of finances of the state.
Fashola’s nemesis, as it were, was his complaint about the
huge monthly deductions of over N3 billion from the state coffers every month
as consultancy fee by Tinubu’s tax company, Alpha Beta, from the almost N30
billion internally generated revenue (IGR). Fashola would have been consigned
to history, never to be returned as the flag-bearer of the party for the
governorship elections of 2011.
From the foregoing therefore, there is no doubt that the
regime of corruption in Lagos initiated by Emperor Tinubu and continued by his
godson Fashola has put the South-west state in a serious deficit.
hope you took the time. was it worthy of the time. Lagos na wa. abi.
