Somehow,
Nigerians had been made to believe that President Muhammadu Buhari delayed the
selection of his would-be ministers to enable him to bring competent and
committed people on board as well as make a right decision. It would also be
recalled that Mr. President had said that the would-be ministers would assist
his administration to perform differently from the previous governments because
Nigerians desired more than anything else.
And
as a result, CACOL as well as other well-meaning Nigerians were expecting a
relatively new set of people with clean records of integrity and competency in
public or private services to make the list.
Howbeit,
if the rumour making waves in some quarters, which has also been confirmed by
some sections of the media is anything to go by, we would say Nigerians’ hope
for a true change has been dashed with the inclusion of some names that in a
sane environment should not appear on the list, if integrity and honesty are the
basis of the selection criteria.
We are therefore
constrained at this point in time to bring to your attention our critical
reaction to the rumoured nomination of the immediate past governor of Lagos
State, Mr. Babatunde Fashola as a minister in the new government.
While recognizing the
President’s constitutional prerogative and right to make appointments as deemed
fit, the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders considers it a service to the
nation, by providing information that might be helpful to your ratification in
that regard.
It is gratifying that
President Muhammadu Buhari, at various fora, having recognized the need to
ensure that square pegs are put in square holes, had promise that his
appointments would purely be on merit and that tested technocrats, with
impeccable records, would be given their rightful places in his administration,
as a way of ensuring good governance to the people of Nigeria.
It is against this background
that our Coalition is appealing to the Senate to please take the pains to dig
deep into Mr. Babatunde Fashola’s record of overall performance as well as that
of financial propriety on the part of his government while in office.
Going by our corporate
policy, CACOL ordinarily does not react to speculations but given the grave
implication of having to keep quiet, only to speak up after such appointment
must have been ratified, would only amount to crying over spilt milk, we deem
it necessary to use this medium to sensitize you on this development.
As could be seen from
the attached copies of our previous petitions to both the EFCC and the ICPC
over which no meaningful action has so far been taken, as well as books
published by us on this subject-matter. Below are also the links to the two
publications:
It
would be noted that our Coalition never shirked its basic responsibility of
blowing the whistle on issues centering on corruption in whatever form or guise
in governance. For ease of reference, please see as detailed below the
afore-mentioned petitions:
·
February
3, 2010: To the EFCC and February 15, 2010 To the ICPC titled ALLEGATION OF
CORRUPTION AGAINST LAGOS STATE GOVERNMENT: ICPC SHOULD INVESTIGATE – our
reaction to THE PUNCH newspaper advertorial of January 28, 2010, under the
title “The True Face of Lagos” on allegations of corrupt practices, signed by
certain Mr. Kasali Martins and Dr. Tunde George who are Lagos residents,
against the state government, which catalogued on a number of questionable claims
of expenditure incurred by it.
·
January
20, 2011: To the ICPC titled RE: ALLEGATION OF CORRUPTION AGAINST LAGOS STATE
GOVERNMENT: THE ICPC SHOULD INVESTIGATE – REMINDER AND FURTHER ALLEGATIONS –
our follow-up action to the above and a fresh reaction to the INSIDER WEEKLY
newsmagazine edition of November 15, 2010 which alleged series of fresh
allegations of financial impropriety against the state government.
·
August
6, 2013: To the EFCC titled RE: ALLEGATION OF CORRUPTION AGAINST LAGOS STATE
GOVERNMENT: EFCC SHOULD INVESTIGATE – REMINDER to the original petition of
February 3, 2010 in which we made reference to the agency’s earlier invitation
to us to come and adopt the said petition; an invitation we duly honoured, and
expressed our displeasure at what appeared petition be the utter neglect or
slow pace at which the anti-corruption agency had handled the matter and urged
it to prevail on its personnel to speed up actions on our request to thoroughly
investigate the allegations raised in the petition, make its report public and
subsequently prosecute those indicted accordingly.
·
September
9, 2013: To the EFCC titled FURTHER REMINDER ON ALLEGATION OF CORRUPTION
AGAINST LAGOS STATE GOVERNMENT: EFCC SHOULD INVESTIGATE: CACOL complained as it did earlier over the
apparent inaction of the agency and reiterated its expectations as regard its
request for expediency on the part of the latter.
·
February
25, 2014: To the EFCC titled FURTHER REMINDER ON ALLEGATION OF CORRUPTION
AGAINST LAGOS STATE GOVERNMENT: EFCC SHOULD INVESTIGATE: We once again
expressed our dissatisfaction at the apparent nonchalant attitude of the agency
so far on the matter.
·
May
29, 2015: To the ICPC and EFCC titled IMMUNITY IS NO LONGER AN EXCUSE FOR NOT
QUESTIONING FASHOLA. RE; CALL FOR COMPREHENSIVE INVESTIGATION INTO THE
ALLEGATIONS OF CORRUPT ACTIVITIES AGAINST THE LAGOS STATE GOVERNMENT – FURTHER
REMINDER: CACOL in its reminder, had
detailed the series of its previous petitions to the agencies and had reminded
both agencies that they owed it a duty to the nation and its people from whom
the government derived its authority to governance, to expedite actions on the
petitions as a way of acknowledging the people’s right to accountability from
those they elected to govern them. It further reminded the agencies that since
the then governor of the state in person of Mr. Babatunde Fashola automatically
loses the immunity privilege from the 29th May, 2015, they (the agencies) no
longer have any excuse for withholding actions regarding investigation and
prosecution as demanded.
It is noteworthy that
Mr. Babatunde Fashola may have enjoyed so much of accolades from the media for
exemplary performance as governor during his tenure, we make bold to say that
all the media hype was a mere publicity stunt as they do not reflect the
reality on ground. In the area of infrastructural development, for instance,
especially as it concerns road networks, we implore you not to rely solely on
media reports but make further efforts at using the machinery at your disposal
to make on-the-spot findings and assessment of the true state of things in the
state.
It
would also be recalled that Mr. Fashola has also been accused of constructing
his personal website with the taxpaying Lagosians’ money to a tune of N78.3
million, whereas every IT person CACOL contacted put an over-bloated estimate
of the cost of the website at about N6 million. We make bold to say that the
N78.3 million website contract is a trademark of Mr. Fashola’s administration. 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.
If
the former governor could be justifying the cost of his personal website, no
matter what he uses it for, then there may be many more shenanigans to be
unearthed by the relevant anti-graft agencies.
It is therefore
unheard of that a government that promises frugality and prudence would bring
on board a man who is synonymous with obscene affluence. We believe that such a
person would be a clog in the wheel of progress rather than a driving force.
We must state here that
we are not out to witch-hunt anyone; rather we are only serving as the voice of
the voiceless and of course, the whistle-blower.
We also would like to
sensitize you to the spill-over impact that mass protests and petitions from
relevant quarters that might trail such appointment if eventually made, may
have on this esteemed administration; this is why we consider it pertinent for
you to do the needful by engaging in the necessary in-house cleaning ahead of
the exercise.
We and other well-meaning
Nigerians wish this administration success in your quest to bring about that
comprehensive change that we have all been yearning for.
Yours faithfully,
Executive Chairman,
CACOL
08037194969
dadnig@yahoo.com
www.deboadeniran.com
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