Debo Adeniran, the executive chairman of CACOL, told The Punch that Fashola’s administration must be probed to prove he is clean.
Adeniran in his interview recalled that following disclosure of may dilapidated schools in the state, socio-economic right accountability project used the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act to know how the Fashola government spent a $200 million World Bank education funds.
He said the state government refused to disclose, on the claim that the FOI Act did not apply to state governments.
Adeniran went on to say that investigations by CACOL showed that the 1.36km Lekki-Ikoyi link bridge, which was reportedly built for N25 billion, cost only N6 billion.
He added that he had written a series of petitions to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to probe the various projects of the Fashola government in the face of the over N500 billion debt left behind by the government.
The CACOL chairman said he was shocked to find out that the commission had continued to ignore all the petitions despite the fact that Fashsola no longer enjoyed immunity, having left office over 60 days ago.
In a letter addressed to the president titled, ‘Don’t elevate Fashola,’ the CACOL noted: “Mr. President, we are constrained at this point in time to bring to your attention our critical reaction to the unbridled speculation making the rounds for some time now, from the members of the public as well as the media, as to the fact that the immediate past governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, is being considered by the presidency for higher national responsibility.
“Feelers have it that his name is prominent on the list of the president’s nominees for key offices in your administration.
“It is gratifying that you have promised at various fora that your appointments would be purely based on merit and that tested technocrats, with impeccable records, would be given their rightful places in your administration, as a way of ensuring good governance to the people of Nigeria.
“It is against this background that our organisation is appealing to you to please take the pains to dig deep into Mr. Babatunde Fashola’s record of performance as well as that of financial propriety on the part of his government while in office.”
Should Buhari Give An Appointment To Fashola?
Meanwhile, Kabir Akingbolu, a lawyer and human rights activist, has sued President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo over their failure to publicly declare assets contrary to their pledge made during the election campaign.
According to Vanguard, Akingbolu initiated the suit, which suggests that by declaring their assets secretly, the top officials breached Section 172 and Section 11 (1) and (2) of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers under the Fifth Schedule to the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
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