N78m Website Upgrade: Leaders who run elitist, oppressive and draconian government are pigs - CACOL replies Fashola

The Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders on Saturday took a swipe at the former Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, describing his administration as draconian and anti-people.

Governor Fashola

The activist group was reacting to Fashola’s condemnation of its call on President Muhammadu Buhari not to consider the ex-governor for appointment for his alleged mismanagement of state funds.

CACOL said the Fashola-led administration was engulfed in several controversies which could not be overlooked.

Fashola had come under fire after the Lagos State Public Procurement Agency posted a report on its website, stating that N78.3m was paid to a firm, Info Access Plus Limited, for the upgrade of his website, www.tundefashola.com, through the Office of the Chief of Staff to the Governor.

The ex-governor had last week defended the decision by his government to spend N78.3m on the upgrade of the website in a five-page letter he personally signed, in which he admitted that the money was actually spent on his website.

Fashola also berated CACOL, in his letter titled ‘When you wrestle with a pig, the pig gets happy and you get dirty,’ for dragging him to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and for calling on President Buhari not to give him a political appointment.

Fashola said, “I cannot conclude without responding to the crusade of CACOL and their ilk seeking my prosecution on allegations that have no proof and writing pre-emptive letters to the Presidency.

“In case they are unaware, I am not looking for a job. I expect them to know that allegations of wrongdoing are not resolved without evidence, neither are they resolved in press conferences.”

However, the Executive Chairmain of CACOL, in a statement titled, ‘We Don’t Mind Wrestling With The Pig As Long As It Produces The Pork,’ on Saturday, said if the former governor could justify the cost of his personal website, no matter what he used it for, then there might be many more shenanigans to be unearthed by the relevant anti-graft agencies.

He said, “The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines a “pig” as an unpleasant or offensive person; a person who is dirty or greedy. Based on this premise, leaders who deliberately run elitist, oppressive and draconian government can only be described by no other name, but pigs.

“A government that causes so much hardship to the largest stratum of the socio-economic ladder, whereas it engages in obscene affluence all in the name of white elephant projects that have no direct bearing on the suffering Lagosians, is nothing but a pig.

“It will be foolhardy for a man who requires pork to say he wouldn’t wrestle with a pig. How does he intend to get it? After all it has been said, ‘No willing pig provides pork; whoever desires pork wrestles the pig down for it!’

Adeniran asked of what use was a N78.3m-website when several other developmental needs of people in Lagos were begging for attention.

Adenira further said, “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 N6m. We are not surprised that a contract that could have cost N6m could be ballooned to N78.3m, because that 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.”

N78m Website Upgrade: Leaders who run elitist, oppressive and draconian government are pigs - CACOL replies Fashola

Don’t give Fashola appointment, CACOL tells Buhari

A civil society group, Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari not to consider the immediate past Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), for appointment.

Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola

The Executive Chairman of the group, Mr. Debo Adeniran, told our correspondent during an interview on Thursday that Fashola’s administration was engulfed in several controversies which could not be overlooked.

Adeniran said his organisation was troubled by many dilapidated schools in the state. He noted that when the Socio-Economic Right Accountability Project invoked the Freedom of Information Act to know how the Fashola government spent a $200m World Bank education funds, the state government refused to disclose it.

He said instead, the state government continued to run its affairs in secrecy by claiming that the FOI Act did not apply to state governments.

Adeniran said independent investigations by his organisation showed that the 1.36km Lekki-Ikoyi Link Bridge which was reportedly built for N25bn, cost only N6bn.

He said he had written a series of petitions to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to probe the various projects of the Fashola government in the face of the over N500bn debt left behind by the government.

He said he was shocked to find out that the commission had continued to ignore all the petitions despite the fact that Fashsola no longer enjoyed immunity, having left office over 60 days ago.

In a letter addressed to the President titled, ‘Don’t elevate Fashola,’ the group said if Buhari wanted to actualise his mission of ‘change’ he would need to distance himself from controversy.

The letter read, “Mr. President, we are constrained at this point in time to bring to your attention our critical reaction to the unbridled speculation making the rounds for some time now, from the members of the public as well as the media, as to the fact that the immediate past governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, is being considered by the presidency for higher national responsibility. Feelers have it that his name is prominent on the list of the president’s nominees for key offices in your administration.

“It is gratifying that you have promised at various fora that your appointments would be purely based on merit and that tested technocrats, with impeccable records, would be given their rightful places in your administration, as a way of ensuring good governance to the people of Nigeria. It is against this background that our organisation is appealing to you to please take the pains to dig deep into Mr. Babatunde Fashola’s record of performance as well as that of financial propriety on the part of his government while in office.”

Fashola’s spokesperson, Mr. Hakeem Bello, did not respond to telephone calls as well as a text message sent to his phone.

Don’t give Fashola appointment, CACOL tells Buhari