Corruption: Ambode under pressure to probe Fashola’s administration

…I’m not afraid to face probe —Fashola

The campaign for the investigation of the administration of Mr. Babatunde Fashola over corrupt practices is gaining more ground, but incumbent Governor Akinwunmi Ambode appears to be reluctant to yield. OKUNADE ADEKUNLE reports

There are strong indications that the Lagos State governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, may soon commence the investigation of the past administration of Mr. Babatunde Fashola, following pressure from some party leaders who are staunch loyalists of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the national leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Ambode who has been careful in joining in the feud between his predecessor Fashola and Tinubu was said to have told the party leaders, who cut across the three senatorial districts to let him constitute his cabinet before deciding on the matter of probe.

Hallmark gathered that the APC leaders in the state also mobilised some of the former aides of Fashola, who were not satisfied with the way and manner he treated them during his administration to join the campaign for Fashola’s probe. It was revealed further that the party leaders claimed that Fashola’s defiance to Tinubu during his second term administration is an indication that he cannot be trusted with power anymore and, so he should not be allowed to be given appointment that would empower him to continue to confront Tinubu who is their leader in the state.

Sources disclosed that due to the rift between Fashola and Tinubu, some of Fashola’s loyalists in the party, who had initially been penciled down for state appointments in the administration of Ambode have been dropped. This is to show Fashola that his strength in the politics of the state has diminished with his exit.

“Some of Fashola’s loyalists in the party whose names had been penciled down for appointments in Ambode’s government had been removed finally from Ambode’s list of nominees. Those on the list are loyalists of Tinubu and those that Ambode had worked with during Fashola’s administration. The core Fashola loyalists in his government have been removed by Tinubu”, said the source.

It was further gathered that the leaders told Governor Ambode that it would be proper for him to probe Fashola because of the high level of mismanagement of funds recorded during his tenure and the high debts profile which the state incurred during his time.

But a strong loyalist of Fashola told Hallmark in a telephone conversation that the call by the party leaders in the state on Ambode to probe Fashola is unnecessary and meaningless, stressing that it was the love President Muhammadu Buhari has for Fashola that prompted the action of the party leaders. He argued that did the party leaders not call for his probe when Ambode was sacking some of Fashola’s aides when he came into power.

“They are afraid of Fashola’s strength when he is appointed by Buhari and their ploy cannot work”, said Fashola’s loyalist.

Meanwhile, the Executive Chairman of Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL), Debo Adeniran, had said that the Fashola-led administration was engulfed in several controversies which could not be overlooked, calling on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate the administration of Fashola.

He stressed that “Basically, what concerns us more is the issue of suspected corruption embedded in the award and execution of contracts in the regime of Babatunde Fashola, as illuminated by the award of this N78.3m website contract.”

“Every IT person CACOL has contacted put an over-bloated estimate of the cost of the website at about N6 million. We are not surprised that a contract that could have cost N6 million could be ballooned to N78.3 million, because that is a trademark of Mr. Fashola’s administration”, said Adeniran.

“The website contract is an eye opener and lending credence to the allegations of the ‘True Face of Lagos’ where most of the contracts awarded before 2010 were said to have been immorally inflated by the regime of Babatunde Raji Fashola”, he said.

Also, the Lagos State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) through its publicity secretary, Barrister Taofeek Ganiyu, stated that the call for the probe of Fashola by the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders relating to alleged fraud during the former governor’s administration has vindicated the PDP’s persistent stance that “the Fashola administration was a fluke.

“Indeed, several times during his administration, we had shouted that the governor was running a propagandist government and that the state was being plunged into avoidable local and foreign debts”, said Lagos PDP.

“With over N27bn monthly internally generated revenue, the state does not need to borrow to carry out projects,” Lagos PDP insists.

Ganiyu explained that “he got loans to complete such projects within eight years only to mismanage and or divert such loans. Under Fashola, the SURE-P funds well over N32bn meant for the state could not reflect in any project and was not accounted for. The local and foreign debts of about N1trn is there for Lagosians to pay through over-taxation.

“We have consequently supported and charged Ambode to probe his predecessor. The incumbent governor must speak out now! Anything short of a categorical statement as to whether Fashola is clean or not is a disservice to the state. Lagosians want to know what the new occupier of the office met, especially the actual amount of loan collected,” said Lagos PDP.

Reacting to the development, the media adviser to Fashola, Mr. Hakeem Bello, told Hallmark that Fashola is not scared of facing any probe panel whenever he is called upon to do so, adding that the ministries activities have been audited before he left office in 2015.

Bello stated that the call for Fashola’s probe does not hold substance as there is nothing in the cupboard which Fashola is hiding. He explained that such call had occurred before and during the run up to 2011 general election but did not fly.

He argued that the PDP and those calling for Fashola’s probe were doing that to score cheap popularity in the state, adding that the PDP has no moral right to call for Fashola’s probe because of their own mismanagement of over N11trillion at the centre.

“Fashola is not afraid of any probe. The call for his probe is not a new thing to him. The PDP had once called for his probe when Governor Ambode came into power in May this year. They should rather give account of the N11trillion they allegedly mismanaged at the centre”, said the media adviser.

However, Fashola in a statement issued and signed by him last weekend denied allegations of wrong while in power. He said the contract for the website passed through due process and was for the good of the state. He also dismissed rumour that he fathered children outside marriage, saying he has only two daughters from his wife. The former Lagos governor also told his detractors that he is not looking for job.

It is becoming obvious that the in the coming months, there is bound to be serious battle between the Tinubu’s group and Fashola’s camp especially as it concerns appointment at the federal government led by APC. It is also speculated that the corruption allegations might affect Fashola’s chances of being nominated for ministerial appointment by President Buhari.