AC faults allegation against Fashola, Tinubu
By Mudiaga Affe, Published: Monday, 1 Feb 2010




Gov Babatunde Raji Fashola


The Action Congress on Sunday said that the allegations of financial recklessness levelled against the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, and the alleged involvement of a former governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and the state legislators in the financial complicity, was unfounded.

The party’s reaction came in response to a story published in ThisDay newspaper on Sunday.

The story attributed those behind an earlier advertorial which revealed the alleged financial recklessness of Fashola to be working for Tinubu.

In a statement issued by the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, and a separate telephone interview with Mohammed by our correspondent, AC said it was illogical for Tinubu to be behind an advertorial that sought to damage his own reputation.

Specifically, the lead story in the newspaper stated, “The advertisement placed by a group known as “The True Face of Lagos” was signed by one Dr. Tunde George and Mr. Kasali Martins who are believed to be working on behalf of the former governor of the state.”

A member of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mr. Adelabu Onibiyo, had last Thursday said that he established contact with those behind the advertorial.

He had said, “Immediately I finished reading through the publication, I called those that signed it and they told me that they stand by it and that they still have more to come.”

Asked if the party had contacted those behind the publication, the AC spokesman said it was not the job of the party to investigate such allegations or look for those behind it but that of the House of Assembly which was also indicted.

Mohammed told our correspondent on the telephone, “It is not the responsibility of the party but that of the House to investigate such allegation. What we said was that the insinuation that Asiwaju Bola Tinubu was behind the advertorial was false, illogical and irresponsible. The body institutionally vested with the power to investigate any allegation against the government or any public officer is the House of Assembly. That is exactly what they have set out to do. Our concern as a party is the attempt by anybody to destroy the coercion within the party and definitely the insinuation that Tinubu is behind the advertorial is a clear attempt to create disunity within the party.”

In the statement by Mohammed, the party further said, “To our surprise, the newspaper insinuated that a two-page advert, published in The Punch of January 28, making allegations of financial recklessness against Fashola was sponsored by Tinubu.

“The AC finds this allegation absolutely baseless and irresponsible because the advert in question, placed by a faceless group, made reckless allegations, not only against Fashola but also attempted to tarnish the image of Tinubu, members of the state House of Assembly and indeed the members of our great party in Lagos State as a whole.

According to AC, it was only natural that fifth columnists would try to penetrate the ranks of the party, instigate crises, and cause disaffection in order to destabilise the AC in Lagos State, as well as impede the tremendous progress made in the state over the last decade.”

The party said as far as it was concerned, the allegations levelled against Fashola, Tinubu and the Lagos legislators in the advertorial remained unproven.

“Without prejudice to the constitutional responsibility of the House of Assembly to investigate any allegations against public officers, we affirm our faith and confidence in the integrity and credibility of the affected persons,” the party said.

The party also said another false and ridiculous aspect in the published story on Sunday was the claim that the House of Assembly had commenced impeachment proceedings against Fashola, based on the published allegations.


It queried, “Can the Assembly commence impeachment processes against themselves since allegations were also made against them in the advert? Constitutionally, it needs one-third of the members of the House to sign a statement, starting the process. For the Lagos House, the number should be 14 members. How then can a 6-member administrative panel start “impeachment” proceedings? It is obvious that no such thing has been commenced in Lagos State.

“We all know that impeachment of a chief executive can only commence after a petition has been formally received by the Speaker of the state House of Assembly. All we have now are unproven allegations by a largely unknown group to which the House has only understandably responded in the interest of its credibility, as well as that of our party.”

AC however expressed surprise that the report assumed that the anti-AC advert was planted by Tinubu, without any proof whatsoever.

Mohammed also accused ThisDay newspaper of mischief over the report.

He said, “The mischief of This Day is very clear on the matter. Or is This Day claiming that they did not know that to commence an impeachment process, you need at least two-thirds of the members of the House to consent to the plot. The one-third of the 40 member House is 14.”

The management of ThisDay, through a text message by its Editor, Mr. Simon Kolawole, however, said it stood by its publication. “We stand by our story and we shall reveal more information at our disposal as time goes on,” the message stated.

http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20100201530770