Why Tinubu Must Not Be Nigeria’s President– Bode George, Dele Farotimi (Part 1)

For his alleged rapacious appetite for acquisition of wealth which has manifested in the alleged criminal manner he controls the finances of Lagos State, and for his alleged lack of leadership capacity and criminal past,  Chief Bode George and Dele Farotimi, two prominent Lagosians, have called on the Federal Government to stop the presidential ambition of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

Tinubu, the National Leader of the ruling All Progressive Congress, on January 10 declared his interest in the presidency after a closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari.

He told State House reporters after the meeting that it has been his age-long ambition to lead the country one day, and since then he has been on jetting across the country on consultations.

While he is yet to conclude his consultations, two notable citizens of Lagos State are also doing their own campaign to ensure his desire to rule Nigeria does not materialize.

In separate interviews with THE WHISTLER in Lagos, Chief George, an elder statesman, and Farotimi, a legal practitioner and political activist,  said  Tinubu ought to be seeking his way out of jail by now and not presidency if Nigeria was a country governed by the rule of law.

The two have expressed shock that the former governor of Lagos State plans to run for president of Nigeria after how he allegedly ran Lagos aground and turned it into the most indebted state in Nigeria.

The Domestic Debt Data for 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory computed by the Debt Management Office as of December 31, 2021, shows Lagos as the most indebted state in the country with a debt of six hundred and fifty-eight billion, nine hundred and fifty-nine million, seven hundred and twenty-eight thousand, two hundred and eighteen naira, thirty-four kobo (N658, 959, 728,218.34.).

The only other state with a debt portfolio closer to Lagos is Ogun State which has a debt of two hundred and thirty-two billion, six hundred and twenty-two million, one hundred and thirty-five thousand, sixteen naira, seventy-three kobo (N232,622, 135,016.73).

George alleged that Lagos has nothing to show for the huge income it makes from taxes and levies because the monies are going into Tinubu’s accounts.

 He said Tinubu has plundered the resources of Lagos State through Alpha Beta, the company he allegedly set up in 2002 to collect revenues for the state while he was the governor. It was registered as a consulting firm to handle the computation, tracking, and reconciliation of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) in Lagos State in return for a commission.

The consulting firm has grown the IGR of the state exponentially from N600 million monthly in 1999 to over N45 billion monthly as of today, an astounding increase of 7,400 percent. But it is widely alleged that Tinubu is the reason why the tax and levy income of Lagos State is not commensurate to the level of development.

George is one of those who share this view. He asked during an interview with THE WHISTLER in his Ikoyi residence, “Who owns the Alpha Beta Company? He owns it. The company collects money and all funds belonging to Lagos are now directly paid into the account of the alpha beta company, not to the IRS or the state treasury. It’s paid directly to his company and then he now remits to the state.

“Which country will have the Internal Revenue Service and will now set up a company solely owned by one man and his cronies, collecting the taxes of the people on behalf of the Internal Revenue Service, how? This doesn’t make any sense.”

Public Funds Going Into Private Accounts

A tax collection summary by Alpha Beta seen by THE WHISTLER showed that between 2008 and 2021, the company collected N4.7 trillion as revenue on behalf of Lagos, with the highest yearly collection of N533.02 billion made in 2021.

THE WHISTLER confirmed from a top staff of the company that tax revenues collected were usually paid into the company’s account before they are later remitted to the state government. Thus, not only does the company rakes in interest on public funds to its accounts, but also deducts its consultancy charges by 10 percent (official figure).

George said it is criminal to set up a private company to collect government funds, hold the funds for as long as it wants, and deducts commission directly from the source.

“This fellow has plundered and mismanaged the finances of this state to a stupor that calls for attention,” he said.

But past attempts to get the government to probe this allegation have not succeeded; as the Federal Government’s anti-corruption agencies appeared to have taken a ‘sidon look” position on allegations involving Tinubu.

Former MD Exposes Alpha Beta, Tinubu

Dapo Apara, a former Managing Director of Alpha Beta, who claimed he was sacked from the company because Tinubu was uncomfortable when he became the MD and started looking into its finances, had petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in 2018, accusing Alpha Beta and Tinubu of tax evasion and fraud to the tune of over N100billion.

But in a January 2019 interview with Punch Newspaper, seven months after his petition, Apara accused the EFCC of failing to act. He had said: “I have not been contacted by the EFCC. The commission has ignored my petition. I am available to defend my petition.”

Apara also went to a Lagos High Court in October 2020, and deposed to a 40-page writ of summons where he further exposed how Tinubu appropriates Lagos funds through the company.

In the writ of summon issued by his lawyer,  Tade Ipadeola, seen by THE WHISTLER, Apara alleged that Tinubu “has directed and dictated the affairs” of Alpha Beta by diverting assets of the company to himself. He also claimed that the company was being used for “massive corruption” which includes tax evasion, bribery of government officials, diversion of funds, and money laundering.

Apara explained how Tinubu hijacked his idea to set up Alpha Beta, and how it became a conduit pipe for him to siphon public funds of Lagos State.

He claimed that he had made a presentation of his proposal to the Lagos State Government in 2000 when Tinubu was the governor, and that Tinubu had demanded 70 percent equity interest in the project, which was to be assigned to one Olumide Ogunmola before he will approve the project.

He agreed and a limited liability company was to be incorporated in which Apara will hold 30 percent shares while Ogunmola and his partners will hold 70 percent of the shares of the company.

Alpha Beta was incorporated in 2002 with the shareholding ratio of 30 percent allocated to Apara, 40 percent to Ogunmola, and 30 percent to Adegboyega Oyetola. An associate of Tinubu confirmed to THE WHISTLER that it is the same Oyetola, his nephew who is the current governor of Osun State.

Apara has since left the country following alleged threats to his life after exposing Alpha Beta, its directors, and Tinubu, who he accused of diverting funds from the company’s account to third parties to the tune of over twenty billion Naira.

George, who also claimed to have investigated claims against Alpha Beta and Tinubu, confirmed Apara’s allegations and said the government must “quickly investigate”  Tinubu and “disqualify him instantly.”

He said, “You know like we say, the morning shows the day. This is what this man has done in Lagos and he’s now asking Nigerians to trust him with the finances of this great country in his hands, how?

“We investigated too, and the robbery is still going on. You saw how much Alpha Beta collects, total it, and you know when you have such heavy money in the banks you have interests.

“For every time the money is there the banks collect interests and at the end of the month they summarise it and he collects his interests and never cares if the money goes to the treasury or not.”

George said Tinubu is running for president because he would love to replicate what he’s done in Lagos at the national level. He said “He wants to be president so that the NNPC and national treasury will have another alpha beta.

“When he’s president and his wife will be senate President of Nigeria, and son will be governor of Lagos while his daughter will be attorney general of Nigeria.”

How Tinubu Compromised Lagos State Government

Aside from his humongous wealth which he allegedly acquired by controlling Lagos finances, Tinubu has been accused of indiscriminate land grabbing and property acquisition, buying up or appropriating state lands and monuments for private gains.

He has been called the emperor and the owner of Lagos due to the way he had managed to spread his tentacles into every corner and lever of government in the state.

Farotimi, who also sat down for an interview with THE WHISTLER in his Lekki residence, said Tinubu had planted his boys in all strategic positions of power and influence in the state to make it easy for him to rule by remote control.

 “Tinubu spent 8 years in power in the office of the governor, but since he left that office, he has functionally been the ventriloquist installing his dolls in that office. They do as he bids and it’s not just that, he ensures that all levers of power flow through his person,” he said, adding that Tinubu “rules Lagos” for his personal aggrandizement.

“A man has had undisputed hegemony for 23 years and yet we can’t speak to good road networks. Yes, they build the signature ones that they’ll paint occasionally so that they can take good pictures and make it seem like everything is fine in Lagos.

“But get off these main roads that they are building and enter the arterial roads, you’d find that they are non-existent, they’re building roads and drainages that lead nowhere. Lagos has been perennially flooded for years and if you talk, they’ll tell you that ‘we should even be happy that the floods are not entering our home, that’s the way it is, Lagos is low-lying.’ Is Lagos the only low-lying part of the world?

The political activist said that despite not being able to deliver good governance in Lagos, Tinubu had continued to win the state largely because he knows how to use money and people to manipulate elections in his favour.

Most importantly, Farotimi alleges that Tinubu had turned the Lagos chapter of the National Union of Road Transport Workers under 47 years old MC Oluomo into a veritable rigging machine.

He said, “You’re dealing with a situation where the Road Transport Union, which is more or less the strong arm part of his hegemony, does his bidding. When it’s time for elections the people are already disconnected from the process because of their disenchantment with the process.

“As long as the people continue to believe that nothing will change, it leaves the room open for these manipulations to take place and when it moves beyond these manipulations, what you then find again is that in those areas where they believe that the voters are able to express themselves without bowing to his will, they send their thugs in there.

“That was what happened in the Igbo-dominated neighborhoods like Okota, Festac, and parts of Okokomaiko in the last elections.”

He also alleged that Tinubu uses his wealth to infiltrate opposition parties to prevent them from offering any threat to his hegemony.

“It’s either you have the PDP, that is perpetually factionalized in Lagos state or you have one of the smaller parties who have candidates whose party agents are bought right at the polling station by the APC or whatever Tinubu’s vehicle might be at the point in time. They simply write what they want to write in cahoots with INEC officials.

“The only way for that hegemony to ever be challenged will be for people themselves to be connected to the process. Without the people being connected to the process, what you find is an abandonment of the space to a man who has proven himself to be quite adept at the use of all kinds of inducement and force.“