3 APC Chieftains Who May Be Probed By Buhari

Editor’s note: President Muhammadu
Buhari has reaffirmed his commitment to
pursue his anti – corruption war which
was one of his key campaign promises in
the weeks leading to the 2015 presidential
election. He has assured Nigerians that
soon, those who have stolen the national
wealth will be in court and that Nigerians
will know those who have short – changed
them. This article focuses on 3 Chieftains
of the All Progressives Congress (APC)
who stand the risk of being probed by
Buhari.
The anti – corruption war of President Buhari
has received a backlash from pundits who
hold the view that the president is using his
fight against corruption as a prelude to
persecute former president, Goodluck
Jonathan, his erstwhile ministers, and other
political opponents.
Faulting the stance of the president,
Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Mathew Kukah,
who is a member of the National Peace
Committee has accused the present
administration of heating up the polity
under the guise of fighting corruption.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has
cautioned the president not to use security
agents to intimidate and harass members of
the opposition political parties. The party
has also called on Buhari to beam his
search light on those in his party, the APC,
who are perceived to be corrupt. This article
focuses on 3 APC chieftains alleged by
members of the opposition to have engaged
in graft.
Babatunde Raji Fashola
It hasn’t been the best of times for former
Lagos state governor, Babatunde Raji
Fashola, in recent weeks, the erstwhile two
time governor of the centre of excellence has
come under fire from Nigerians for spending
the sum of N78.3m on the upgrade of his
website, www.tundefashola.com , while he
was still in office.
As if that was not enough, Nigerians were
shell shocked to find out that the former
governor also spent the whopping sum of
N139m on the drilling of two boreholes at
the Lagos House, Ikeja. Drawing wide
spread criticism from the populist.
Other colossal spending that have made
some suspect Fashola of shady deals include
N640m was spent for the reconstruction of a
car park and other associated works at the
Lagos House, Marina, N300m was spent on
the relocation of cables belonging to the
Power Holding Company of Nigeria at the
Lagos State University Teaching Hospital,
N175m to replace the railings of a
pedestrian bridge on Carter Bridge from Ido
to Idumota with concrete railings among
others.
Fashola who was widely seen as one of few
upright politicians, and a likely ministerial
nominee of President Buhari is now facing
calls for probe by members of the opposition
who have accused him of “recklessness
misappropriation of funds over the website
scandal and award of other contracts
executed by the former Lagos state governor
while he was in office.
In a Punch report dated AUGUST 20, 2015, a
former National Deputy Chairman of the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Bode
George, alleged that many of the projects
undertaken by the Fashola were done at
exorbitant prices.
“We knew all along that the emperor had no
clothes. Using N78m of taxpayers’ money
to build a website is reckless
misappropriation. The phony over N29bn
used to build a mere kilometre long link
bridge is outrageous venality, he said.
“The spurious N1.5bn 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!”
The likelihood of Fashola facing a probe is
also heightened by the huge debt burden of
N419.2 billion left by his administration,
for his successor, Governor Akinwunmi
Ambode.
The opposition claims that in saner climes,
Fashola would be facing be facing a
comprehensive investigation rather than
being considered for any appointment at
all.
The weight of allegations against Fashola
has suddenly thrown doubts on a once
vibrant and flourishing political career.
Fashola is now standing on shaky grounds
due to the weight of evidence against him,
besides losing out on a ministerial spot, he
also stands a risk of being swept away by
the current anti – corruption crusade of the
present administration
Asiwaju Bola Tinubu
Bola Ahmed Tinubu
For President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-
corruption war to be adjudged impartial,
the opposition has urged him to also probe
the national leader of the All Progressives
Congress (APC), and former governor of Lagos
state, Bola Tinubu.
Tinubu has been accused by the opposition
of colluding with his erstwhile political
protégé, Fashola in allegedly amassing the
wealth of the Lagos state for years.
A sponsored documentary on African
Independent Television (AIT) “The Lion Of
Bourdillon,” , in the weeks leading up to the
2015 general election alleged that Bola
Tinubu, was corrupt. It accused him of
converting almost all the landed properties
in Lagos to personal use and in engaging in
monumental looting.
The opposition has further claimed that the
APC has not prosecuted anyone for
corruption-related offences since the past 16
years that the All Progressives Congress (APC)
has ruled Lagos.
In calling for a probe of Tinubu, Chief Bode
George said:
“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.
“If Fashola now rots in the mud, we must
look through the depths to understand the
instigating and factor. Whenever Fashola is
cooling his feet at the interrogation centre,
Tinubu should not be far behind.”
Even though Tinubu has not been found
guilty of graft by a court of competent
jurisdiction, the barrage of allegations
levelled against him by the opposition may
pressure President Buhari to his investigate
his political ally.
Rotimi Amaechi
Another APC chieftain who has been in the
eye of the storm is former Rivers state
governor Rotimi Amaechi. Since vacating
office, Amaechi has been bombarded with
barrage of accusations bordering on fraud
and abuse of office from his successor
Governor Nyesom Wike.
Wike, who once served as Chief of Staff under
Amaechi has alleged that he met an empty
treasury when he took over the reins of
governance in the state on May 29, contrary
to claims of the immediate past
administration that it left N7 bn in the
state coffers.
He has also alleged that his predecessor ran
the most corrupt regime in the country and
should be made to account for his deeds.
The governor has accused Amaechi of
spending billions accrued to the state from
the Federation Accounts and loans obtained
from various commercial banks.
Wike’s quest to bring Amaechi to account
also gained momentum after the Rivers state
High Court on August 20, 2015, granted the
his administration permission to probe
former Governor, Rotimi Amaechi.
However, the former governor has vowed not
appear before the probe panel set up by his
successor to investigate his administration’s
sale of valued public assets and his role in
the alleged contract inflations and other
related allegations on the ground that the
panel is illegal.
But Amaechi’s effort to shrug off any probe
of his administration may expose him to
more harm following Wike’s efforts to garner
support from President Buhari to probe the
former governor.
In a report on Vanguard dated June 20,
2015, Wike asked President Muhamadu
Buhari to support his bid to probe Amaechi
and recover funds allegedly stolen by the
former governor.
“I am confident that President Buhari will
support my administration in the quest to
tackle the massive corruption that
characterised the Amaechi administration.”
he said
Amaechi is now faced with the herculean
task of not only vindicating his name but
also proving that he is worth being
considered an appointment in Buhari’s
administration, but the level of hurdles
before the former governor has made it very
difficult to go unscathed.
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