THE OTHER FACE OF LAGOS - PART 4

LAND SCAMS IN LAGOS INVOLVING GOV FASHOLA AND EX GOV TINUBU

We are concerned citizens of Lagos who have brought to your attention various cases of corruption and abuse of office by former Gov Bola Tinubu and Gov Fashola in our previous publications.

In this publication, we bring to your attention once again monumental cases of corruption and abuse of office involving land matters in Lagos State perpetuated by the duo.

Over the past 10 years, both Tinubu and Fashola have been involved in various land scams including outright conversion of Lagos land for personal use, and given out state land and buildings to their cronies, political associates, public officials, members of security agencies, politicians and members of the various arms of the judiciary to achieve one interest or the other at the expense of Lagos tax payers. Tinubu in particular is the number one landlord in Lagos and has turned Lagos land worth trillions of naira into his personal possession to be used freely or given away unaccounted for.

Even after he left office, Tinubu still continues to steal Lagos land under the watch of Fashola. He is still giving out Lagos land to curry political favours, signing C of O and backdating them to period he was in office. Gov Fashola has photocopied Tinubu’s land grabbing style as he is also acquiring land for personal and political purposes.

These brazen acts of corruption by the duo have been with the active collaboration of select few public officers who have gotten obscenely wealthy at the expense of Lagos tax payers. Most notable are Gbenga Ashafa-formerly executive secretary and now Permanent Secretary, Land’s Bureau since 2001; Mrs Awofisayo-formerly Permanent Secretary and now Special Adviser, New Town Development Authority (NTDA), and a relation of Bola Tinubu from Iragbiji, Osun state who has been in charge of NTDA since 1999; Hakeem Muri-Okunola-PA to former Gov Tinubu and now Executive Secretary, Land’s Bureau; Mrs Nike Animashaun-Director, Land Services and known to be close to Bola Tinubu and Tunji Olowolafe. These people are arguably the wealthiest unelected public servants ever in the history of Lagos state. They are major wheelers and dealers of prime land. We mentioned in our earlier publication that the Land’s Bureau at Alausa stinks of corruption.

We catalogue below a few brazen acts of stealing and corruption committed by both Fashola and Tinubu on the good tax payers of Lagos. For ease of reference, we categorize these acts into two parts: the direct theft of prime land and properties and the use of Lagos land and properties to buy favours or pay off public officials at various levels.

A. Direct Theft of Lagos Land and Properties

Tinubu’s greed and primitive acquisition tendency knows no bound. In fact, it is believed that Lagos land personally converted by him is worth over N500 billion and growing because he hasn’t stopped. A few of them are listed below:

1. 4 Oyinkan Abayomi (formerly Queens) Drive, Ikoyi. A 5 bedroom detached house on 1 acre of Land which was a Lagos State Governor’s guest house since 1979 now belongs to Bola Tinubu. The C of O was signed and released to him by Fashola in 2007 shortly after he assumed office. The property is valued at N450million

2. Tinubu’s 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 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 N600million

3. The annex of the Lagos State Guest House in Asokoro, Abuja was bought by the State Government in 2006 for N450million 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.

4. The 250 hectare land valued at about N35billion 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

5. The 1,000 hectares of land valued at about N75billion located at Abijo at Ibeju-Lekki LG and given to LCC which is part owned by Tinubu and Fashola and being developed as golf course and housing estate by Assets and Resource Management Ltd(ARM) as ADIVA project

6. The prime land of 157 Hectares with 2.5km of Atlantic beachfront valued at about N10billion and 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 $20million (N3billion) out of public treasury 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.

7. The 1acre Parkview Ikoyi Estate foreshore land valued at N1billion reclaimed by Lagos State Government is now owned by Bola Tinubu.

8. While in office, he allocated to himself the former Strabag yard beside the Lagos state secretariat at Alausa, Ikeja.

9. Also the choice property at Lekki-Epe road on which he built and owns the multi-billion naira Oriental Hotel and the extension of multi-storey car park beside it. Also the multi-level recreation centre by Mobil in Oniru Estate on Lekki-Epe road jointly owned with ARM and Tunji Olowolafe. All these assets valued at over N25billion were obtained without paying a kobo to the Lagos State Government.

10. Tinubu and Fashola sold the following prime Lagos properties to their personal friend and front-Prince Dipo Eludoyin at very ridiculous prices:

· The 3.8hectares of land of Lagos State Fisheries office in VI(beside the Institute of Oceanography) valued at N3billion

· The Fishery landing jetty at Badore (where the Ilubirin fishermen were to be relocated) valued at N500million

· The entire Ogudu foreshore scheme initially earmarked for low cost housing scheme valued at N5billion

· The Ilubinrin housing estate (which used to house Lagos state civil servants and judges up till 2007) valued at N2.5billion

· The former Julius Berger yard at Oko Orisan, Epe valued at N450million

11. Tinubu raised a loan of N4.7billion on Eko Akete Project for which nothing was achieved before he turned around to sell the property to his Chagouri friends of C & C and Hitech Construction Ltd at ridiculously low price at the expense of the tax payers of Lagos.

12. Tinubu expended over N5billion of Lagos tax payers’ money on the bar beach shore line 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. We suspect the N5billion 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

13. 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 to develop it. The complex is presently wasting away courtesy of the Lagos State Government.

14. 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.

15. Several other buyers of Federal Government properties and developers of properties 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 to private accounts before their redevelopments were approved. Those who refused or are unable to pay could not develop their properties. This is a major economic strangulation of property developers and has contributed largely to the sky rocketing rent in Ikoyi, VI and Lekki axis.

16. Tinubu 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 headquarter of Television Continental (TVC) which is owned by him is located there. He deprived the youths of Lagos of decent education because of his greed.

17. Tinubu single handedly sold the prime land on Aboyade Cole, VI which was recovered from some allotees, to UACN Properties Plc. The amount of proceeds was shrouded in secrecy



B. 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 now inherited by Gov Fashola:

· Several prominent Nigerians in the judiciary, police, INEC, and other sensitive agencies have obtained prime land from former Gov 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 Land’s Bureau could publish the names and identities of beneficiaries of land allotees from year 2000 to date, the scandal that will 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:

(a) 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.

(b) Rauf Aregbesola, AC Osun State governorship candidate and former commissioner and Muiz Banire, still a serving commissioner got detached houses at Ladoke Akintola st, GRA Ikeja for the “good job” while serving under Tinubu.

(c) Yemi Cardoso and Wale Edun both former commissioners were sold houses on Iru close, and other location 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 perpetuate 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 has succeeded in buying his way out of trouble 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 N40million bullet proof jeep for the speaker in a desperate bid to ward off investigation by the assembly

These corrupt acts have deprived the tax payers of Lagos billions in revenue 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 tax payers with a 30 year concessioned toll road.

Tinubu recently came out with a full page advertorial in several newspapers to deny allegations against him that he influenced the President of the Court of Appeal on the on-going Sokoto State governorship case. We call on him and Gov Fashola and all those whose names are mentioned in this publication to come out and deny or explain these allegations against them. The public will no longer take their silence as ‘golden’

We wonder why Lagosians, particularly the educated elites stand by while these men are depriving the good tax payers of Lagos. Recently, in Delta state, eminent Deltans led by Chief Edwin Clark wrote a petition to EFCC on the various acts of corruption of former Gov Ibori which caused the EFCC to make another move to charge him to court again.

Where are the elders of Lagos? Where are the elders of Island club, Yoruba Tennis club, The Metropolitan club, Lagos Lawn Tennis club, Eko club, The Association of Lagos Indigenes, Oriwu club, and a host of others. Where are the popular commentators on corruption?

Where are the human rights activists? Where is the NBA and the NLC? Where are the vibrant civil society groups? Where is the powerful and vibrant Lagos media? Where are the social crusaders? Where are the religious leaders? Where are the traditional rulers, the kabiyesis and chiefs particularly in the Lekki-Epe axis whose ancestral lands have been stolen and who have been deprived of their means of livelihood?

Why is there a conspiracy of silence by those known to be dogged fighters of corruption? Why are they watching as these men fritter away our collective wealth meant for us and future generation?

We should not expect any protection from the House of Assembly whose Speaker recently advised the group ‘The True Face of Lagos’ that leveled allegations of corruption against Gov Fashola to confront him with these allegations. What manner of Speaker?

We Lagosians should take charge of our own destiny. Let us join hands in the collective effort to call on the anti-corruption agencies, and in particular the EFCC, to act now and move into the Land’s Bureau and the State’s Treasury Office at Alausa to conduct a thorough investigation on Land matters from year 2000 to date. We assure the public that if this is done transparently, it might be possible to recover trillions of naira stolen from the tax payers of Lagos.

The Lagos Progressives is determined to continue to expose corruption and abuse of office prevalent in Lagos state. We have done three previous publications and have called upon the EFCC and ICPC to act and we hope this fourth publication will trigger the necessary actions from these agencies.

We thank the numerous members of the public who have responded with mails of commendations, moral and financial support. We want more of this from you and feel free to contact us by email lagosprogressives@yahoo.com. And those who think they can intimidate us with their scare tactics, they have failed woefully

We make bold to say that our organization will not relent in our efforts to expose corruption in Lagos State Government and we still have many more releases for members of the public in the coming weeks. Please watch out for part 5 soon

gbengapro or is it forpeace you na know dey tire ! All this BRF bashing & hate will not increase your rating on NL

hatch#:

gbengapro or is it forpeace you na know dey tire ! All this BRF bashing & hate will not increase your rating on NL

Part 5 de again? Koburu popcorn at the ready.

This Tinubu bashing can Never achieve anything.OBJ while on Power did more but failed woefully.
Tinubu is just Too smooth and Smart for PDP pen Pushers.
Try another Time.

@Poster, do you have a template for the petition which you have sent to the State on this issue? Can I get a copy?

hatch#:

gbengapro or is it forpeace you na know dey tire !   All this BRF bashing & hate will not increase your rating on NL  

These guys come out with exact addresses, dates, and particulars of business transactions. If BRF & Tinubu can disprove these allegations on individual basis then we will agree that their hands are clean.

True, societies get the leaders they deserve and our thieving leaders are an accurate reflection of what we are as individuals.

gbengapro:

We Lagosians should take charge of our own destiny. Let us join hands in the collective effort to call on the anti-corruption agencies, and in particular the EFCC, to act now and move into the Land’s Bureau and the State’s Treasury Office at Alausa to conduct a thorough investigation on Land matters from year 2000 to date.  We assure the public that if this is done transparently, it might be possible to recover trillions of naira stolen from the tax payers of Lagos.

Good stuff. Let the relevant bodies investigate.

gbengapro:

The Lagos Progressives is determined to continue to expose corruption and abuse of office prevalent in Lagos state. We have done three previous publications and have called upon the EFCC and ICPC to act and we hope this fourth publication will trigger the necessary actions from these agencies.

We thank the numerous members of the public who have responded with mails of commendations, moral and financial support.  We want more of this from you and feel free to contact us by email lagosprogressives@yahoo.com. And those who think they can intimidate us with their scare tactics, they have failed woefully

We make bold to say that our organization will not relent in our efforts to expose corruption in Lagos State Government and we still have many more releases for members of the public in the coming weeks.  Please watch out for part 5 soon

If they really want this investigated seriously then what the hell are they doing releasing parts 1,2_ _ _N etc. Why not just expose all their information for investigators. Do they think this is a soap opera. These are serious allegations.

They make it all look like some interesting series!

so when do we expect the next part?

Series 5- Tinubu and fashola caught eating Amala together

Serie 6 Tinubu wears Ankara while Fashola wears Brocade

Series 7 Fashola uses eyeglasses just like Tinubu to perpetuate corruption

@OP, You can enlist Becomrich for some maps to give the story more credibility

dayokanu:

Series 5- Tinubu and fashola caught eating Amala together

Serie 6 Tinubu wears Ankara while Fashola wears Brocade

Series 7 Fashola uses eyeglasses just like Tinubu to perpetuate corruption

@OP, You can enlist Becomrich for some maps to give the story more credibility

It is not a surprise why Nigeria is still where we are today.
These are serious allegations that should not be allowed to be swept under carpet. I read some of the comments and i shook my head for us as a people because i expect Nigerians to abhor corruption in all its ramifications for us to get to our full potential as a nation.
We should move beyond the thinking that if a government is doing better that its predecessors then it does not matter if its corrupt. Our leaders must be held accountable for every kobo spent , it should matter to us if part of the public funds has been diverted even if the government seems to be doing well. Corruption has no other name.
Let me ask us all how many of us will be happy to find out that after giving our drivers N5000 to buy gas in the car he bought N4500? I am sure majority of us if not all will not be happy. That's a food for thought.
I lived in Lekki before and i was close to some land surveyors the kind of stories from these guys about Tinubu with regards to land acquistion leaves much to be desired.
So Nigerians we should always demand 100% accountablity from our leaders. What we should demand is commitment of 100% state resources (not even 98%) to better the lots of citizen. Not personal aggrandisement under the pretence of seemingly good performance!

jump

We the Lagos Progressives have done our homework on these allegations and they are factual. These are very serious allegations but we are baffled that the readers are not shocked. Tinubu and Fashola are taking lagos to the cleaners everyday. What they are doing makes the likes of Ibori, IBB, Atiku etc look like child's play. We actually feel sorry for Nigeria. Corruption is now an acceptable fad and if the thief happens to be perceived as a "performing gov" it's just ok.
However, the reason for posting these in nairaland and other internet sites is to share info with the public. We know what to do to bring the thieves to face the law and it is being done
We shall continue to share these info with the public until such a time when the will be made to face the music

Do you know that for some reason, I forgot that Fashola was Tinubu's Chief-of-Staff for a good amount of his administration? I have been championing Fashola in complete ignorance all this time, forgetting that whatever went on in Tinubu's regime, he was part and parcel of!!!

Chaiiiiii!!!!!

Lagos State don SUFFER!!!

I can corroborate a good number of the allegations regarding land scams, particularly the one concerning 1500 hectares of prime beach front land purportedly given to the LCC people as Lagos State's contribution to the construction of the Lekki-Epe "toll" road. There is also the issue of 4 Queens/Oyinkan Abayomi Drive.

Eludoyin is the one fronting for Tinubu at the estate opposite Goshen Beach Estate near Lekki Phase I.

The New Era Foundation Youth Camp on Eleko Beach Road should also be looked into.

Fara Park Estate

Beechwood Estate

Royal Gardens Ajah

Bola Tinubu Diagnostic Centre in the LASUTH premises

The Critical Care Unit in LASUTH

I strongly suggest the Lagos Progressives should take a close look at all the above named projects and facilities. You will be shocked with what you'll find.

While I am impressed with Fashola's performane, its quite easy to become swollen-headed and complacent in such a powerful post.

There has been changes in Lagos, really I expected more from someone who is 100% commited and clean. I expect some of these allegations to be true.

Tinubu was not known to be a true progressive all along ie not particularly clean. Fashola was not known much till he became involved in government.

However, people should understand the response of Nigerians to this - this is a country where virtually no government official has done much to improve society until Fashola came to the scene.

The OP should write a petition to EFCC or desist. NL is hardly the place to investigate such issues.

Honestly , the stench of corruption in Lagos state is really massive. LAgosians have submitted to their fate and because of some good work Fashola has done, people dont want to look at the corruption in Lagos.

It is a real shame and when a governor runs to court to stop investigation against him , then he surely has a million things to hide. It is only when another set of people take over Lagos the truth will be known to the public. The time will come and it is only a matter of time. Oba mewa igba mewa lo ni ile aiye

Beaf:

The OP should write a petition to EFCC or desist. NL is hardly the place to investigate such issues.

I agree.

^^^
Y should the OP desist from posting? People come on NL to insult other tribes, religions and even thier mothers and they are not told to desist. Someone comes to make allegations which IF TRUE will affect generations to come and you ask him to report to EFCC or desist? #smhforNigeria

^^^^
So from what you saw up there, you have been able to deduce that DESIST = DESIST FROM POSTING
Do i look like the owner pf NL?
Gudlck 2 u.

lol, I don't believe in Luck,

Sorry if I'm wrong but kindly educate me what 'desist' in this case refers to?

5. The 1,000 hectares of land valued at about N75billion located at Abijo at Ibeju-Lekki LG and given to LCC which is part owned by Tinubu and Fashola and being developed as golf course and housing estate by Assets and Resource Management Ltd(ARM) as ADIVA pro

I DONT KNOW ABOUT OTHER ONES LISTED HERE BUT THIS NUMBER 5.THE PLACE IS BEEN DEVELOPED BY ARM.IT IS LOCATED AFTER AWOYAYA,IMMEDIATELY AFTER COINOIL FILLING STATION AT LAKOWE.WE BOUGHT SOME PIECE OF LAND FROM THE VILLAGERS SOME YEARS BACK,AS I WRITE DIS NOW,THE CASE IS STILL IN COURT (SINCE 2008).I NEVER KNEW THEY HAVE THE BACKING OF THE GOVERNOR because THE WAY THEY FLAUNT COURT ORDERS.ANYWAY, I DONT THINK FASHOLA HAS A HAND IN THIS BUT HIS POLITICAL GOD FATHER.

Although Fashola is not doing too badly, compared to other governors in Nigeria. Yoruba proverb (In a city where everyone is blind, a one eyed man is king) If  we are going to rate Fashola by international standards,  maybe we’ll give him 30% cause his government is very corrupt, 1.  Area boys as law enforcers (lasma, kai, agbero,etc) 2. Over inflated contracts 3. Land fraud by omo- onile, the list is endless.
The fact that he is doing well in some areas does not mean we should not point out his faults, so he can corrects them. Nigerians  should learn to separate issues from personality. we should learn to take constructive criticism and corrections, so we can perform better. Praise singing will not take us anywhere.

Everybody dey claim progressive, who is retrogressive na?

Petition the EFCC if these allegations are factual.

How u take know all this things ohhhhh, Ur own even pass "wiki leaks"

@poster, you should know by now that a good majority of Nairalanders and indeed Nigerians regularly commit the abominable crime of[b] WILLFUL IGNORANCE [/b]. even if they knew your accusations carry an element of truth, they simply do not care and will not care. They have reached a level where they will sleep with the devil to get a few minutes of fame and relevance that our corrupt political and religious leaders have got us addicted to leave matter for another century, the only way this problem will go away (briefly) is when the 1-eyed oracle kicks the proverbial bucket and that is like another 50 years away