*As ADC Gov’ship Candidate writes Lagos Gov
*Lists questionable projects Gov funds with taxpayers’ money
*Over N7m for replacement of liquid frangrance in Gov’s house
*N30m monthly for Dep Gov wife’s outreach for indigent citizens
*N30m monthly for Dep Gov’s wife’s empowerment programmes
*Revelations spark reactions as respondent says: ‘That is what you have when non-indigenes are imposed on you as government leaders’
BY KEMI KASUMU
“Now, the same Tinubu, who is now the President of Nigeria and Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will have to convince the world while he must displace the right owners of Lagos and replace them with people he has been bringing from their own constitutional states to come and occupy the positions of powers that we have as rightful owners of Lagos State, whom he has continued to deprive of their benefits,” Doherty’s revelations spark reactions.
The Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, has been put under notice by an opposition party’s governorship candidate in the March 18, 2023 election in the state over his flamboyant expenses he spends taxpayers’ money for under the guise that he is funding projects.
Making this point in a letter to the governor was Governorship Candidate of the Action Democratic Congress (ADC) in the state, Mr. Funso Doherty, who confirmed via his X post on Saturday that he had written an open letter to Mr Sanwo-Olu on some contract awards reported by the state’s Public Procurement Agency (PPA).
“I just wrote an open letter to the governor on Public Procurement awards reported by LASG for the 2nd and 3rd quarters of 2023, highlighting a number of issues for further scrutiny and remedial action.
“Judicious use of public funds is always important, and is especially so now,” moreso where the expenses bother on spending over N2 billion on rechargeable fans for the Office of the Deputy Governor alone wondering what kind of rechargeable fans they could be.
The awards analysed by the accountant were from April to September 2023, which to him “requires greater scrutiny,” while also requesting the Governor Sanwo-Olu to review the projects.
It will be recalled that this attitude of spending Lagos money as they like is one of the reasons they have been criticised, the successive non-indigenes that Mr. Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been bringing from other South West states to impose on indigenes in their own constitutional state of Lagos and who, therefore, has persistently failed to use their money judiciously for the development of their state.
According to the letter, N2 billion was approved for the “provision of supply items (rechargeable fans, rechargeable lights and fridge in the office of the deputy governor.”
He said N18.5 million was awarded to the Office of the Chief of Staff to the Governor for the “supply and distribution of 2,000 Noiler chicken across the Local Government Areas and Wards in the state”.
Mr. Doherty said that “it is not clear why the Office of the Chief of Staff should be engaged in the supply and distribution of chicken across the state.”
In another project by the Ministry of Home Affairs, the state will be renovating Saint Andrews Anglican Church in Oke-Popo area of the state to the tune of N531 million.
The ADC governorship candidate questioned why the state will be renovating a religious centre with taxpayers’ money.
On bulletproof vehicle, “Another sum of N440,750,000 was awarded to the office of the chief of staff for the procurement of a brand new Lexus LX 600 Bulletproof Sport Utility Vehicle for use in the Pool of Office of Chief,” Mr. Doherty wrote.
Funso Doherty listed among others that, “The sum of N7,475,000 also awarded for the replacement of the liquid fragrance in the Office of Mr Governor, Lagos House, Ikeja.
“The Office of Deputy Governor was awarded the sum of N30,000,000 for monthly outreach of indigent citizens by Wife of the Deputy Governor.
“Another N30,000,000 was awarded for monthly empowerment programmes of the Wife of the Deputy Governor.
Reactions
A respondent, who refused to be named while asked to comment on the ADC governorship candidate’s letter, said, “That is what you have when people who do not know Lagos but are imposed on Lagos at all cost by a political godfather, who himself has been exposed globally by judicial process in the United States of America has no link with Lagos. They lack the capacity to do needs assessment talkless that they would know what Lagos State indigenes, owners of the government they are illegally occupying, need.
“Imagine that a governor, indigene of Ogun State, would approve to himself N7 million just to replace liquid frangrance in the government house that he lives, approve over N2 billion to himself through his Chief of Staff’s office for the supply of rechargeable fans, fridge for the office of his Deputy Governor, and give N30 million for wife of his Deputy Governor alone for outreach for indigent citizens and another N30 million for the same wife of the Deputy Governor for empower programmes just in one month! You can imagine how much he can give to his wife,” he said.
He, however, said, “Tinubu will have to turn Lagos State to another Gaza Strip where Isreal, backed by United States of America and other western nations, has been committing genocide because the people say “this is our land and we cannot be pushed out of it” but Benjamin Netanyau says “we must impose ourselves on you and you must be displaced” and thereby killing children, women and innocent men for the past over 70 years. He has to do that with us in Lagos to continue.
“Now, the same Tinubu, who is now the President of Nigeria and Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will have to convince the world while he must displace the right owners of Lagos and replace them with people he has been bringing from their own constitutional states to come and occupy the positions of powers that we have as rightful owners of Lagos State, whom he has continued to deprive of their benefits.
“This is my reaction to what Funso Doherty has stated in the that letter to Governor Sanwo-Olu. That is what you have when the Governor is Ogun State, the Deputy Governor is Ogun State, the Speaker of the House of Assembly of Lagos State is Ogun State and now it is their reigns time to share the wealth of Lagos among themselves. In the end, they will take those shared wealths to their state of Ogun and use same to develop and satisfy the needs of their own Ogun State people without their own people even asking them how?
“We have seen how James Faleke took the wealth he shared from this arrangement in Lagos to Kogi State before he was effortlessly cut to size and defeated by Yahaya Bello, thereby refused the achievement of his ambition to become Kogi State governor. Whether Yahaya Bello is ‘thug’ or not is not my concern. The truth is, he is a thorough bread of Kogi State and he has been governing the state that every member of Kogi State believes and can testify is also his.
“Another of them is Omo Yayi, Solomon Abiola, who Tinubu had for long imposed on Lagos West senatorial district as their Senator until in 2023 when he also handpicked him to now go back to his Ogun State and paved his way to become Senator of Ogun West senatorial district and where he has been doing well distributing electricity transformer to his community people of Ogun State and doing empowerment for them. Sadly, these South West states people never complained to their own that about the way they are “robbing Peters of Lagos State to pay their Pauls iin Ogun State” or other places. It will soon be clear,” he said.
