Tinubu Has Acquired the Entire Lagos, Says PDP

Normal.dotm 0 0 1 972 1945 huhuonline 1945 972 6807 12.0 0 false 18 pt 18 pt 0 0 false false false

As the war of words between the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its rival Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) continues, the PDP has brought to the fore the controversy surrounding the ownership of the multi-billion naira Ikeja Shopping Mall alleging that

 former Lagos State Governor, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who doubles as ACN national chairman, illegally acquired the Shopping Mall for the sum of N14 billion.

"Instead of attacking President Jonathan, shouldn't the ACN be explaining to the public, who owns the N14 Billion naira Ikeja Shopping Mall that was built on Lagos Secretariat land? Who owns Oriental Hotel, Renaissance Hotel, Agidingbi, First Nation Airline, Vintage Publications (publishers of The Nation newspapers), TV Continental, Radio Continental, and so many other illegal and corrupt acquisitions?" queried the PDP in a statement signed by PDP's National Vice Chairman for South-West, Chief Segun Oni. The PDP also questioned the ownership of a land at Ikosi, Ketu, Lagos, former campus of the Lagos State Polytechnic.

The expansive plot of land within Alausa, few meters away from the Governor's office, was allocated as a residential area before the residents of the state living in the place were evacuated and the buildings in the area demolished. It is also located a stone-throw from the multi-million naira Renaissance Hotel, which is also allegedly owned by the former Governor, popularly known by his title, Asiwaju. Tinubu, who just celebrated his 60th birthday, is already entangled in allegations that he forced some state governors and the 57 chairmen of Local Government Councils and the Local Council Development Areas of Lagos state to cough out N2 billion for his birthday. He and his party have discounted the allegations, describing them as baseless and entirely without merit.

 
The PDP claimed that Tinubu stole enough money for his investments while Governor of Lagos and used the loot to acquire choice properties in Lagos. Continuing, the PDP challenged the ACN to "tell Nigerians how a man who was governor for eight years with fixed salary and allowances could have acquired so much money to buy almost everything in Lagos and stop insulting our sensibilities with nonsensical talks which are only aimed at covering up their non-performance and looting of treasuries in the States under their control. 'What Nigerians demand from them are explanations as to the reckless and obscene appropriation of properties belonging to Lagosians by Bola Tinubu and his stupendous wealth which is at the expense of tax payers in Lagos, Osun, Ekiti, Oyo and Ogun States."

Oni, claims the ACN are made up of political hypocrites: "it is the height of hypocrisy for a party, whose leader; Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu has converted all properties belonging to Lagos State to his personal use to attack the president, just because a contractor chose to invest in the propagation of the work of God by renovating a church in the president's village instead of him (President Jonathan) collecting gratis from the contractors."

Oni qualified the call by the ACN for the impeachment of President Jonathan over the church gift saga as satanic. "Would the ACN hypocrites have preferred that the said contractor handed the money used for the church renovation to President Jonathan as they would have done if they were the president? Or that the contractor should have doled out the money to Tinubu as part of his birthday largesse as done by ACN governors in the Southwest?

"I think the problem with these ACN people is that they think they are above everyone, including God. That is why they could come up with such satanic position just because a company performed its social responsibility by helping to promote the work of God," the statement read adding that, "one then begins to wonder why the ACN people hate God and members of the Anglican Communion this much."