Opeyemi Adesina
A Chieftain of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State, Dr. Adegbola Dominic today disclosed that the former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu' is presently holding the state's treasury by the jugular.
Dominic, who was the Lagos State APGA Governorship Candidate in the April 2011 general elections, said the National leader of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Tinubu and his co-travellers, would snuff the life out of Lagoss state anytime soon if not act quickly, and this conference might just as well be the state’s Nunc Dimitis.
"But God forbid. We shall kill the ACN and the evil it represents before the ACN kills Lagos State," he added.
Lamenting the high level of extortion of the masses in the state shortly after he became governor, he said that Tinubu engaged the services of AlphaBeta Consulting Ltd (ABC), a company alleged and widely believed to be owned by him, to collect all the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the state.
"Despite the fact that this company had no record of any experience in revenue collection, Tinubu arbitrarily fixed for the company a commission of 15 percent of all revenue collected in the state.
"Since then, the government has come down hard on the groaning people of Lagos state with excessive and multiple taxations.
"That of course is not surprising, because the more the money that is extorted from the people as revenue, the more the money that goes to ABC as commission.
"The government now boasts of an IGR of about 40 billion naira every month, 15 percent (about 6 billion naira) of which goes to AlphaBeta.
"Fleecing the suffering masses of Lagos state of 6 billion naira every month to satiate the greed of the owner of AlphaBeta, whoever he is, is wicked and unacceptable.
The full text of the address delivered by Drm Degbola Dominic of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP to the press on Monday 8th October, 2012.
Distinguished Ladies and gentlemen,
I wish to bring to your notice that the on-going battle between Lagos State on the one hand and Bola Tinubu with his ACN co-travellers on the other is fast turning against our dear state.
The ACN leader, Bola Ahmed Tinubu is presently holding Lagos State by the jugular, and unless we act quickly, he will snuff the life out of our state anytime soon, and this conference might just as well be the state’s Nunc Dimitis.
But God forbid. We shall kill the ACN and the evil it represents before the ACN kills Lagos State.
EXTORTION OF THE MASSES OF LAGOS STATE.
Shortly after he became governor, Bola Tinubu engaged the services of AlphaBeta Consulting Ltd (ABC), a company alledged and widely believed to be owned by him, to collect all the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the state.
Despite the fact that this company had no record of any experience in revenue collection, Tinubu arbitrarily fixed for the company a commission of 15 percent of all revenue collected in the state.
Since then, the government has come down hard on the groaning people of Lagos state with excessive and multiple taxations.
That of course is not surprising, because the more the money that is extorted from the people as revenue, the more the money that goes to ABC as commission.
The government now boasts of an IGR of about 40 billion naira every month, 15 percent (about 6 billion naira) of which goes to AlphaBeta.
Fleecing the suffering masses of Lagos state of 6 billion naira every month to satiate the greed of the owner of AlphaBeta, whoever he is, is wicked and unacceptable.
FASHOLA IS INCAPABLE
We do not need an AlphaBeta to collect taxes in Lagos state, certainly not at a cost to the tax payers of 6 billion naira a month.
Any government with honest intentions should be able to put in place an efficient tax administration machinery that will be effective without necessarily strangulating the people. Governor Fashola himself acknowledged this fact last year when he announced through his Special Adviser on Taxation and Revenue, Mr. Bola Sodipo, that he would terminate the services of AlphaBeta in Lagos state by February, 2012.
It is October now and he has not found the courage to do so.
The Bible tells us that the good shepherd protects his sheep from the ravenous wolf, and would lay down his life if necessary to protect them. Shepherd Fashola, however, looks on helplessly, trembling with fear, while his tameless-wolf godfather, Bola Tinubu devours the poor masses of Lagos State. Fashola is so scared that he even sacrifices the sheep by himself to appease his rapacious godfather.
Honestly, to save Lagos state, Fashola should resign immediately or step aside for somebody else who can dare his godfather.
Our fathers say “A kii je oye awodi ki a ma le gbe adie”
The masquerade who will not dance should leave the arena and go back to the land of the ancestors.
Obviously, this job is beyond Fashola, and it is dangerous to wait until 2015. It might be too late then to salvage anything and the damage could be irreversible.
Fashola must stop his rampaging godfather now or get out.
TINUBU’S CRIMINAL ACTS
Bola Tinubu admitted that he lied under oath after he had claimed falsely that he attended a St. Pauls School, Aroloya (a school which did not exist) and Government College Ibadan, which he certainly did not attend. He also claimed, among other false claims, that he attended the University of Chicago, with no available evidence to show that he did.
This man has told all possible lies and forged everything forgeable, from schools attended (or not attended) to age declarations and educational qualifications. There are discrepancies even in the names on his NYSC discharge certificate and others stated or declared elsewhere.
It is a shame and a disgrace to Nigeria and Nigerians that self-confessed crooks are allowed to gallivant across the country without a tinge of conscience, professing to be our leaders.
We remember the efforts made by Chief Gani Fawehinmi of blessed memory to compel the police to investigate Bola Tinubu while he was still in office as state governor.
In spite of the Supreme Court ruling that the immunity clause in the constitution did not stop criminal investigations,and the array of facts and undeniable evidence made available to the police, Bola Tinubu has not been investigated up until now.
Whereas in other lands, the police dutifully seek to investigate all allegations of crime, the opposite is the case in our corruption – hobbled country.
The Nigeria Police would rather defend and shield an alleged criminal from investigation if the criminal has the right connections or the correct money. Hence, with the kind of money in Tinubu’s hands, nobody expected anything different from the Nigeria Police anyway.
We say that for the Nigeria Police. What do we say for our otherwise loud, outspoken and often belligerent self-proclaimed progressives and human rights activists, most of whom are based in Lagos, and who vehemently defend and promote Tinubu at every opportunity, because they benefit from the misfortunes of Lagos state.
They have maintained a criminal silence on this issue, and that goes to show the extent to which corruption has eaten up our country.
It must be emphasized that no court in the land has cleared Tinubu of the alleged crimes, and that the case has been left hanging deliberately.
However, we shall refuse to let this case die.
This is one case our President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan must look into in order to further enhance his credibility and the confidence of Nigerians in his reform agenda.
We commend the president for the considerable success so far recorded in various sectors of the reform especially the power sector, and we wish our country greater success still.
However, turning the blind eye on these serious criminal allegations against Tinubu, will constitute a big blur on the president’s score-sheet.
We also commend the Inspector General of Police, Alhaji Abubakar Mohammed for his success so far in reforming the Nigeria Police. From what we have seen in the short period of time that Alhaji Abubakar has been in the saddle at the Nigeria Police, it seems that “something good may come out of Nazareth” after all.
We urge the IGP to investigate Bola Tinubu now. The image and integrity of the Nigeria Police will be the better for it.
FOREIGN ACCOUNTS
Recently, Bola TInubu was arraigned before the Code of Conduct Tribunal accused of maintaining foreign accounts under various names while in office as governor, in contravention of the law.
However, despite direct and incontrovertible evidence, the trial judge dismissed the case on the technical ground that it was not properly filed. Every right-thinking Nigerian must have been shocked at the jubilation that erupted in the court-room at that pronouncement. Even though the judge did not clear Bola Tinubu of the criminal charge, yet our Senior Advocates of Nigeria and the so-called progressives were dashing across tables and chairs to reach and congratulate their patron and benefactor. SHAME.
For as long as we continue to celebrate those who commit crimes and corrupt the system with ill-gotten wealth, for so long shall our people continue to suffer and groan under hardship and poverty.
Bola Tinubu, being the leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria, and having been governor of our State for eight years, has the moral obligation to prove to Nigerians that he is not a Criminal.
In fact, a man of integrity in Tinubu’s circumstance, rather than rejoice, would be unhappy and disappointed that the trial judge had deprived him of an opportunity to prove that he is not a criminal.
That celebration speaks volumes of his culpability.
We note here again that this case has not been determined and Tinubu has not been cleared of the criminal charge.
The Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal therefore need to show Nigerians that their integrity is intact.
Just how long will it take to re-file this case properly?
Nigerians are waiting. And watching.
LAGOS STATE PENSIONS LAW
Shortly before he left office in 2011, Bola Tinubu signed a mindless Pensions Law which gives a former governor a pension salary that is same as that of the sitting governor. In addition, he gets 300 percent of this amount as (furniture allowance, two houses (one in Abuja and the other in Lagos) at locations of the former governor’s choice, three replaceable brand new cars, and an almost endless list of aides and allowances.
Tinubu is not alone in this morbid display of greed and selfishness,as some of his governor colleagues, including governors of Kwara, Gombe, Rivers and Kebbi States have signed similar laws.
Remarkably, in the case of Lagos State the Pensions Law starts operating from Bola Tinubu while all other former governors are excluded from the package.
Actually the issue is not whether other former governors benefit from the package or not. Rather, the issue is that the package, as aptly described by foremost former governor Alhaji Lateef Jakande, is excessive and obscene.
Why should an ex-governor receive any pension at all anyway?
Was he jobless before he became governor?
How many years did he put into public service?
How much did he contribute to the pension’s fund?
If, as some people suggest, the purpose is to discourage a sitting governor from stealing public money, then that presupposes that the governor had a propensity for stealing and therefore, was not worthy to be governor in the first place.
By any standard, this law is highly immoral and so is Bola Tinubu who signed it.
And what about the members of the State House of Assembly who passed the law?
They and their government executive counterparts are one brood of viperous predators whose game is the pussy cats’ “FALL FOR ME, I FALL FOR YOU”. They are all ACN birds of the same feathers . Remember that their speaker Adeyemi Kuforiji is in court with the EFCC, on trial for money laundering.
It is indeed unfortunate that we have got ourselves stuck with a wicked generation of greedy conscienceless leaders.
Danjuma Goje of Gombe state, on his own part, paid himself and his deputy 300 million dollars for a start as pension benefits.
How much did Bola Tinubu pay himself?
And how much has Fashola paid to him so far as pension benefits.
We demand to know because the money belongs to us, the people of Lagos State.
We also insist that this pensions law must be scrapped immediately while Tinubu is made to return to the state everything that he may have benefited from the obnoxious law.
If the billions of naira that is regularly spirited out of the public purse to gratify the grandmaster is expended for public purpose, our children will no longer be on the streets. Rather, they will be in their classrooms and places of work.
It will also not be necessary to send our children and youths to scavenge dump sites for food, as Fashola is doing in his Waste for Food project.
And now I call on you Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola, YOU ARE THE GOVERNOR FOR GOD’S SAKE. NOT TINUBU.
You must summon the courage to do what needs to be done or go away.
Lagosians have had enough.
Ladies and gentlemen,
God bless our dear Lagos State.
God bless our country Nigeria.
God bless you all.
Thank you.
_____________________
DR. ‘DEGBOLA DOMINIC
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