Former National Vice Chairman of the People Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode Ibiyinka George, has called for the probe and trial of the immediate past governor of the state, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, and his predecessor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for allegedly looting the state and leaving it in a state of financial comatose.
George made the call in a personal statement signed by him in reaction to allegations that Fashola spent spent N78 million to upgrade his personal website while serving as governor.
The statement reads: “We are living in a very interesting time. There is an air of repugnancy everywhere. Most specifically in my state where the immoral stench and the dark odium of Mr Babatunde Fashola’s regime is daily being unearthed. The so-called poster boy of yesterday is now being revealed in pure pollutant largeness, reeking of sharp practices and financial untidiness.
“What is most disgusting and annoying in all this episode is the arrogant and the befuddled attempt of Mr Fashola to justify the apparent reckless misappropriation of Lagos State tax payers money to set up a personal website.
“Fashola shows no remorse, no semblance of regret, no guilty nudging of conscience. Instead, he still attempts to ride a high horse, puffing and stomping in feigned seraphic innocence. We are not fooled. We knew all along that the emperor had no clothes.
“Using N78 million tax payers money to build a web site is reckless misappropriation. The phony over N25 billion used to build a mere kilometer long link bridge is outrageous venality. The spurious N1.5 billion allegedly spent on phantom pedestrian bridges is another con game. And there are so many of these screaming illegalities observable in the record of our poster boy of yesterday !
“In a more justiciable society, Mr Fashola should be facing a comprehensive investigation rather than being considered for any appointment at all. President Buhari should use the Fashola case as an acid test of sparing no one with any intimation of public malfeasance. Rather than engaging in a smug chest beating of innocence, Mr Fashola should first remove himself from any consideration of public appointment and openly call for a judicial probe of his eight years in office. Nothing else will bring out the true picture. Lagos State is now the biggest debtor in the federation with over a trillion naira in bad debts. It may take at least 40 years before Fashola’s indebtedness can be defrayed ! What insensitive malady !
“In the end, there is no way to divorce Fashola from Bola Tinubu. They are both linked in unutterable complicity. If Fashola stands today in tarnished allegations,Tinubu, his godfather , cannot possibly distance himself in innocent escapism. No sir. One is the creation of the other. If Fashola now riots in the mud, we must look through the depths to understand the instigating and complicitous factor. Whenever Fashola is cooling his feet at the interrogation centre, Tinubu should not be far behind.”
