A WORD OF REPLY TO THE WAILERS AND COLLECTIVE CHILDREN OF ANGER ON ASIWAJU BOLA AHMED TINUBU
I have noticed that the PDP wailers and the Saraki wailers have not gotten tired of their worn-out accusations against PMB that he has refused to move against Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu by prosecuting him for alleged corrupt practices that he allegedly committed when he was the executive governor of Lagos State and as a result PMB has proven that his war on corruption is selective, vindictive and a mere political witch hunt.
I am not Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s spokesman so I cannot hold brief for him. Four years ago under GEJ’s presidency, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu was charged and tried by the Code of Conduct Tribunal based on the allegation that he illegally operated foreign bank accounts when he was Governor of Lagos State but he was discharged and acquitted by the tribunal.
Also, Nigeria’s former anti-corruption czar Nuhu Ribadu one of the most vibrant anti-corruption crusaders in Nigeria’s recent history until his recent missteps, stated categorically that he never listed Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as corrupt.
If Nuhu Ribadu who has a complete dossier on the extra-curricular activities of our largely corrupt political class who governed Nigeria between 1999 and 2007 gave Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu a clean bill of health then what else is there to jaw jaw about?
Apart from this, during the presidential campaign, yours truly pointed out the fact that Alpha Beta Consulting consults for many regions of the Ghanaian government and several state governments and government agencies in Nigeria. So, why single out its consultancy services for the Lagos state government as a huge act of corruption?
Before Alpha Beta Consulting got involved with the tax collection regime in Lagos State, the amounts generated from internal revenue was dismal and shameful. We all know the level rot among tax collection agencies. A lot of companies and individuals operated for decades without paying taxes. The idea of the land use charge was borne as a result and hundreds of billions of naira have been generated from corporate, individual and land use taxes. Outsourcing the tax collection to Alpha Beta no doubt leap frogged Lagos State into one of the most financially robust and financially independent states.
On Alpha Beta’s website the following information is provided about its clientele:
“Our Clients”
Our target clientele are the major banks, large companies including multi-nationals, Government departments, parastatals and other indigenous companies in the manufacturing, oil and gas, finances and general service industries.
Our clients:
Lagos State Government
Kwara State Government
Nassarawa State Government
Akwa Ibom State Government
Abia State Government
Imo State Government
Kano State Government
Ondo State Government
Sokoto State Government
Abuja Environmental Protection Board
Enugu State Waste Management Authority
Enugu State Ministry of Environment and Mineral Resources
Ekiti State Government
Lagos Water Corporation
Airtel (Formally Zain)
The Republic of Ghana Operations :We have deployed our solution in some Municipalities and Assemblies in Ghana.These include Cape coast Metropolitan Assembly (CCMA), SeKondi Metropolitan Assembly(SMA), Shama District Assembly(SDA),Adentan District Assembly, Sunyani District Assembly and Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly respectively.”
Tinubu was a huge torn in the flesh of GEJ and the PDP administration that had at their disposal the EFCC, ICPC, NSA, DSS, DMI, the NPF, NCDC and the Federal Ministry of Justice yet they could not indict him for a single act of corruption now they want PMB to go after the same Tinubu that the PDP and GEJ could not indict for corruption for a period of 8 years after his constitutional immunity from prosecution expired.
Tinubu being the Field Marshall of the commonsense revolution that helped PMB clinch power after 3 failed attempts is no doubt the brainbox of the political strategy department of the Buhari presidency. This is the reason that they have tried everything under the sun to knock PMB against Tinubu so that they can launch a political onslaught against PMB which PMB would have been unable to contain if he had burnt the bridge that took him to the presidency.
Using Tinubu as a punching bag to make PMB and the APC look like same of the same as the PDP failed during the presidential campaign and will not help the wailing wailers and their ilk recapture the presidency in 2019.
Written by Bunmi Awoyemi, Ph.D, a Public Affairs Analyst, a Corporate Finance & Project Finance Expert, as well as an International Lawyer and Entrepreneur.