Recently the public was awash with reports of the arrest of the of the Lagos House of Assembly Speaker, Hon. Adeyemi Ikuforiji, over allegations bordering on corruption and abuse of office.
The petitioner stated that Ikuforiji used his position as Speaker to collect a monthly running cost of N500 million on first line charge. In the last 14 months, he was said to have collected not less than N7 billion, which he has been funnelling abroad to buy properties through proxies and his automobile company called Brown Motors, located at 2, Mobolaji Bank-Anthony Way, Maryland, Ikeja Lagos, adding that Mr. Ikuforiji committed perjury by denying his record of conviction in his INEC forms submitted in 2007 and 2011, whereas he had been convicted twice in the United States, in 2001 and 2005.
Though the Speaker has been released from the EFCC’s custody, the allegation has not only dented his image in the political landscape, it has rubbished his posture on good governance and rule of law.
However, those who are in the know claimed that the Speaker could not have perpetrated the fraud without the support of the Lion of Bourdillon and godfather of Lagos State politics, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who is facing corruption charges with ICPC for operating a foreign account while serving as the governor of Lagos State. The source who craves anonymity stated that the Speaker is remitting whopping sum of N200m to the former governor on a monthly basis just to secure his political future, especially his ambition to become the Lagos State governor.
This is not the first time the former governor would be mentioned in this kind of fraud-related act. It would be recalled that a group known as Concerned Citizens of Lagos had levelled allegations of corruption against the former governor, accusing him of grabbing lands of Lagos State using front and proxies that include the boss of Oando Petroleum, Wale Tinubu, and that he has so far converted over N500bn worth of land in Lagos.
The group claimed that Tinubu used his position to acquire No 4 Oyinkan Abayomi (formerly Queen’s ) Drive, Ikoyi, a five-bedroom detached house on one acre of land, which was a Lagos State Governor’s guest house since 1979. The C of O was signed and released to him by Fashola in 2007 shortly after he assumed office. The property is valued at N450 million.
Also his 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 fund to rebuild and renovate it. Recently, 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
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 he left office, the property was transferred to him under the pension plan he signed into law before he left office. Not only this, the 250 hectare land valued at about N35 billion strategically located at the Ajah junction on Lekki Road which was initially meant for a General Hospital for the people of Eti-Osa local government 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 tax payers of Lagos.
He is also said to have acquired 1,000 hectares of land valued at about N75 billion located at Abijo at Ibeju-Lekki LG and given it to LCC, which is part owned by Tinubu and Fashola and being developed as a golf course and housing estate by Assets and Resource Management Ltd (ARM).
A prime land of 157 hectares with 2.5km of Atlantic beach front valued at about N10 billion was stolen by Tinubu from the communities of Siriwon, Igbekodo, Apakin, etc in Ibeju-Lekki LG 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 $20 million (N3 billion) public funds 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.
A one-acre Parkview, Ikoyi foreshore land valued at N1 billion reclaimed by Lagos State Government is now owned by Bola Tinubu. While in office, he also allocated to himself the former Strabag yard beside the Lagos State secretariat at Alausa, Ikeja.
Another is a choice property at Lekki-Epe road on which he built and owns the multi-billion naira Oriental Hotel and the extension of a multi-storey car park beside it. Also is the multi-level recreation centre by Mobil in Oniru Estate on Lekki-Epe road, which he jointly owns with ARM and Tunji Olowolafe. All these assets valued at over N25 billion were obtained without paying a kobo to the Lagos State Government.
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 hectares of land of Lagos State Fisheries office in VI (beside theInstituteofOceanography) valued at N3 billion.
* The Fishery landing jetty at Badore (where the Ilubirin fishermen were to be relocated) valued at N500 million
* The entire Ogudu foreshore scheme initially earmarked for low cost housing scheme valued at N5 billion.
* The Ilubinrin housing estate (which used to house Lagos state civil servants and judges up till 2007) valued at N2.5 billion.
* The former Julius Berger yard at Oko Orisan, Epe valued at N450 million
Tinubu raised a loan of N4.7 billion on Eko Akete Project on which nothing was achieved before he turned around to sell the property to his Chagouri friends of C & C and Hitech Construction Ltd at a ridiculously low price at the expense of the taxpayers of Lagos.
Tinubu expended over N5 billion of Lagos tax payers’ money on the Bar Beach sho reline project and no further work has been done by the concessionaire to develop the Atlantic City project which was claimed to have been over-subscribed. It is suspected that the N5 billion will soon become a complete waste given the temporary nature of the shoreline protection. The Federal Government in 2005 offered to handle this project at no cost to Lagos but Tinubu refused because of his personal interest and greed.
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 from developing it. The complex is presently wasting away courtesy of the Lagos State government.
It took several months of horse-trading and underhand payments before Gov Fashola could allow the new owners of 1004 flats to redevelop the complex.
Several other buyers of Federal Government properties and developers in Ikoyi, VI and GRA 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 into 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 rents in Ikoyi, VI and Lekki axis.
Tinubu is said to have 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 ofLagosof decent education because of his greed.
Tinubu single-handedly sold the prime land on Aboyade Cole, VI that was recovered from some allottees, to UACN Properties Plc. The amount of the proceeds is shrouded in secrecy
Use of land and properties to buy favours from public officials
This is an act of using Lagos prime land to buy favours and corrupt public officials. This act was perfected by Bola Tinubu as governor and has now been inherited by Gov Fashola.
Several prominent Nigerians in the judiciary, police, INEC, and other sensitive agencies have obtained prime land from Tinubu and Gov. 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 Lands Bureau could publish the names and identities of beneficiaries of land from year 2000 to date, the scandal that would result is better imagined. Gbenga Ashafa and Mrs. Awofisayo are the conduit through which these acts are being perpetuated. Both are also personally involved in various dubious land transactions on their own.
Prime land and properties have been used to pay off public officials who are personally close to Tinubu and Fashola for ‘job well done’ or for being privy to sensitive information.
* 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 giveaway price.
* Rauf Aregbesola, AC Osun State governor, also got a detached house at Ladoke Akintola st, GRA Ikeja for the “good job” he did while serving under Tinubu.
* Yemi Cardoso and Wale Edun, both former commissioners, were sold houses on Iru Close, and other locations in old Ikoyi at giveaway prices by Tinubu. The list is endless.
Gov Fashola was Tinubu’s Chief of Staff from 2002 to 2007. He was a part of these scams, running errands for his boss to perpetrate these corrupt acts. He has since taken over as governor and has continued with these acts.
Gov Fashola in the wake of the petition against him presented by “The True Face of Lagos” to the House of Assembly, succeeded in buying his way out of trouble, albeit temporarily, by bribing each of the 40 members with cash and prime state land at Abijo GRA, off Lekki-Epe road. In addition, he bought a N40 million bullet-proof 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 of naira 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 a 30-year concessional toll road.
These and other allegations are what Tinubu is going to strive to exonerate himself from, especially in his current trial by the Code of Conduct.
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