felele:

My brother, you don't know the half of it. The LCC concession alone cannot stand up to scrutiny in a FAIR court of law!

Do you have copies of the concession agreements/contracts? I'd love to reason with you, but the absence of documented evidence is making it hard for me to do that, Talk is cheap my friend,

You might want to explain to us what Tinubu's interest is in Hi-Tech construction, a major partner in LCC, or if not, a cursory glance at CAC's records will explain it to you.

felele:

You might want to explain to us what Tinubu's interest is in Hi-Tech construction, a major partner in LCC, or if not, a cursory glance at CAC's records will explain it to you.

Shouldn't you be the one explaining? Abi are you not the one with all the theories and schemes?

The burden is on you my friend,

We're not in a criminal court yet, where the burden of proof lies on the prosecution to prove guilt. This is the court of public opinion. You go ahead and disgrace me by publishing hereon the CAC details of Hi-Tech Construction, to prove that Bola Tinubu has no connection whatsoever with the company. You could start with the names of the directors and the shareholding structure.

Thank you.

I think I understand why Yar'adua wrote Fashola that letter about those LCDAs. It must be to block money meant for the 20 LGs from entering alagba Tinubu's hand through the LCDAs. So in a way, the good people of Lagos have been paying for AC's campaign all over Nigeria.

not good,

Na wa

lets wait for the Nation newspaper !!!

wonders shall never end

I just simply love BRF. BAT should simply respect himself and not lose his prominence. Yoruba's still see him as a "father figure" but if he tries to drag BRF into the mud, he may lose all within a short time.

---

^{Eko o ni baje o!}

Between Fashola and Tinubu
By NOSIKE OGBUENYI
Tuesday, December 15, 2009


• Bola Ahmed Tinubu
Photo: Sun Publishing
More Stories on This Section
After months of underground manouvrings and interplay of high stake forces amid strident denials of rift between the godfather and his godson, the intricate succession battle for the 2011 governorship election in Lagos State appears to be gradually spilling over to the open.

Few days back, Mr. Segun Ayobolu, a dyed-in-the wool loyalist of former Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu, resigned from the Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola administration. At the time of resignation, he was Special Adviser to the governor on Information and Strategy/Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information.

Ayobolu, the longstanding media tactician of the Tinubu camp cited health reasons, but the governor confessed that he was shell-shocked by the move as he was not carried along.

Ayobolu has been associated with Tinubu for nearly 20 years dating back to when the latter was a Senator in the early 1990s during the abortive Third Republic of the Babangida era. Ayobolu was part of the media strategists that worked hard to facilitate Tinubu’s election as governor Lagos State in 1999.

The implication of Ayobolu’s exit is that the media flank of the administration has been weakened. It was learnt that the resignation was just the beginning of more of such pull-outs that will follow the battle for the control of the commercial nerve centre ahead of the next general elections. It is on record that Fashola has not reshuffled his cabinet since he took over from Tinubu on May 29, 2007. It has been speculated that he has not done so because the appointees derive extra power from their mentor, Tinubu. One of the commissioners, Dr. Muiz Banire of the Environment Ministry is rumoured to have been anointed as the successor of Fashola on AC platform in 2011. It was alleged that before the ticket was given to Fashola in 2006, he agreed to limit himself to a single term and to abide by the decision of the group.

But both Tinubu and Fashola have consistently denied reports of their alleged rift as the machination of their political adversaries. Now, the battleline appears to have been drawn between Fashola and Tinubu’s loyalists ahead of the 2011 election. Through his impeccable track records in office, Fashola has been able to attract a coop of convinced loyalists and supporters not only within the administration but the wider spheres of the state and the nation. These elements are urging him on not minding the contrary stand of the Asiwaju. This support has emboldened him to threaten to sack disloyal aides. The governor has reportedly admonished them to either fall in line, resign or be sacked.

Another group urging Fashola to reject the ‘Mandela Option’ (limitation to a single term) are some eminent Lagosians who believe the governor is doing a good job and should therefore be supported for a second term come 2011.

But as the rumours of the soured relationship between the two leading politicians swirl, Fashola came out last week to stem the evil wind. According to the governor, he would do everything to continue to maintain the healthy and warm relationship between him and Tinubu which he said predated his election into office as governor.

Fashola who was an attorney to the Tinubus before veering into politics, spoke in an interview with newsmen at the Lagos House, Marina after a caucus meeting. He stressed: “I say very emphatically that our relationship predates my being in government and I will do everything to continue to maintain that relationship…The relationship is very important to me. I think some people are looking for a divide where none exists. I think at the very best some people are dreaming it. But if they remain in that dream they will not wake up. If they remain in that dream the development of Lagos will pass them by”.

Fashola added: “They better wake up because no matter how long you dream that Governor Tinubu and I will fight, there would be no fight. There is no reason for us to fight. There is no contest between us. He is my leader. He is the leader of my party. The party that I am proud to be a member of”.

The talks about the smouldering power struggle and realignment of political forces in the state were further accentuated by Tinubu’s absence at the pre-convention lecture of the AC held on Thursday in Ikeja. The former governor was absent despite the fact that he was in town and that several other AC big wigs were present. Among them were the AC National Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande, Fashola himself, Lagos AC Chairman, Henry Ajomale, former Ogun State Governor, Chief Olusegun Osoba, Fashola’s deputy, Mrs Sarah Sosan, Lagos State House of Assembly Speaker, Hon. Adeyemi Ikuforiji and many others. Tinubu’s associates attributed his absence to fatigue after allegedly having series of crucial meetings the previous night.

The next few months leading into the new year will certainly point the true direction concerning the relationship between Fashola and his mentor, Tinubu. Only time will tell whether he still possesses the wherewithal to unseat him from the power vortex where he placed him nearly three years ago.

Having the kind of near total control which he allegedly used to exercise over Fashola at the early stage may not be feasible for Tinubu any longer since the incumbent governor has grown in confidence and power over the years. But one can surmise that if the story of the infighting between the two of them is anything to go by, then each camp would have to weigh a lot of variables in finalizing its 2011 gameplan.

For Fashola, a fall-out with Tinubu at this stage might imply kissing a goodbye to the AC ticket due to Tinubu’s near total grip on the party. That would mean settling for another strong platform capable of squaring Tinubu’s AC. The former will also likely unleash his media arsenal on him having emerged lately as a veritable media mogul.
Concerning the matter of Tinubu ditching Fashola for another candidate, that may conversely be a high risk venture in view of Fashola’s growing populism on the basis of his first rate achievements in the state so far. It will look like the squeezing water from stone to convince the highly enlightened Lagos voters to move against a proven achiever in the mould of Fashola.

While the political horizon in the state remains nebulous, the best wish now is that the tales of growing gap between the two top politicians remain in the domain of speculation so that Lagos may witness more years of real democratic dividends.

Wouldnt we all just love to see them have a falling out!

Leaving the door wide open for the opposition.

The story doesn't even have a ring of truth to it.

Fashola isnt doing a great job. He is doing a better job than most expected.

Facts are evidently playing out everyday concerning the rancor between the immediate past Governor of Lagos State, Senator Bola Tinubu and the incumbent Governor, Babatunde Fashola, despite the fact that the two camps are using
maturity to cover their messy and bizarre disagreements. Huhuonline.com editorial team are now having sleepless night as a result of phone calls, text messages and e-mails emanating from concern Nigerians, majority who are Lagosians, expressing displeasure about the political crises in Lagos involving the two gladiators and other sundry issues in the state.

It would be recalled that huhuonline.com earlier gave some insight concerning this lingering crises, this efforts was however criticized by some people believed to be loyalists to Senator Bola Tinubu who have benefited from him economically. Their claims were that our painstaking findings are not accurate; some of them even said we have been paid by some individuals to paint Tinubu black. All these reactions are lies meant to shift attention from the realities that are resonating from the state.

Inspite of the fact that Fashola’s government is gaining public sympathy and support which was consequent to some measure of developments and achievements he made in his two years in office, attacks are profusely coming from Tinubu camp as Fashola has distanced himself from running government in the old ways of starching state funds to the private accounts of party faithful especially God-father. Tinubu’s camps are of the opinion that the Party needs more funds to perpetually keep PDP away from gaining political dominance in Lagos and other AC controlled States in the country. Apart from that most elections tribunal are said to be sponsored by Lagos state through the tax payers money, the biggest shocker however was that President Attah Mills of Ghana was also financially sponsored into power to spite the Nigeria Ambassador to Ghana, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, who also contested gubernatorial election in 2007 under the platform of PDP but lost to Fashola with margins of hundreds of thousand.

As previously published by huhuonline.com Tinubu was not favorably disposed to the Fashola's re-election in 2011 poll because of alleged “growing wings.” He was said to be rooting for the candidacy of the incumbent Commissioner for Environment, Dr. Muiz Banire, in 2011. Our findings have it that Banire and Fashola often engage self in some verbal attacks in full public glare and that Banire has equally make it a usual habit to always come late to their weekly executive sessions. Not just Banire also the controversial Tokunbo Afikuyomi equally treat the Governor with disdain with the belief that he is a traitor to his God father Senator Bola Tinubu. Huhuonline.com can conveniently say that Tinubu's preference has polarized AC in Lagos State, especially the State House of Assembly and the entire kitchen cabinet in the state.

Meanwhile there is now a new twist to the whole development apart from what was previously published. A source declared that Tinubu Alpha Beta was collecting N3bn monthly, but Fashola reduced it to N2bn and to N1.7bn.Tinubu and his cohorts became upset about the reduction and demanded a refund of the N13bn he spent to install Fashola as Governor in 2007. Responding, Fashola said the N13bn was Lagos state money and not Tinubu`s personal fund. Consequently, Tinubu threatened to impeach Fashola and Fashola, who was Tinubu chief of staff, thus was familiar with all his dirty deals has vowed to expose Tinubu .Worried about the gravity of the danger the fight between god-father and son will cause the party, subsequently scheduled a meeting between the duo, but Tinubu failed to show up; Tinubu was later sighted in Denmark on the day of the meeting. As a matter of fact there are fresh indications that Tinubu and the Party machineries that are loyal to him are doing everything possible to impeach Fashola before his tenure lapses. Sources confirmed that if Tinubu impeaches Fashola, AC will definitely loose Lagos state in the subsequent election, as Fashola will decamp to Labour Party, and then will use power of incumbency to return himself as Governor in 2011. Tinubu in his usual manner is now recruiting media houses to help him fight Fashola, Huhuonline.com gathered that he recently met with the publisher of a leading newspaper in Nigeria (name withheld) to help him fight Fashola, but the publisher demanded N50m. The whopping amount scared Tinubu away the source conformed.


Huhuonline.com available facts have it that Fashola had tacitly refused to advertise all the programmes and projects being handled by Tinubu as part of his achievements so that if eventually it backfires he would wash his hands off it. His worry stems from the fact that he may not be able to defend some of the contracts being executed across the state by Tinubu’s construction company, Hitech, and some concessionaires, including the Lekki Concession Company (LCC), with the contract sum shrouded in secrecy. Huhuonline.com understands that Tunji Olowolafe and Deji Ali (of ARM resource Mangers) have been fronting for Bola Tinubu as the Chairman and Directors of Lekki Concession Company. Tinubu owns lion share in the company (HITECH Construction Company) responsible for the construction of the project. Hitech has always been the only construction company executing major construction projects in Lagos State, despite the fact that they lack the technical know-how and competence in construction works.



In exposing some of the agonies Lagosians will soon face, Managing Director of LCC, Opuiyo Oforiokuma, publicly said that the barely 50 km road from Falomo Bridge loop to Eleko beach junction would cost the concessionaire N50 billion. That means N1 billion per kilometre. Yet, the company would operate on the road on Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) for 30 years. The contract was signed in 2006 by the Tinubu administration. Another sore point is that LCC is erecting a toll plaza on the road already and will start collecting toll even before it completes the project. That is beside the fact that two more plazas would also be erected to make it three. The money spinning project is expected to give Tinubu hundred of millions every month. Though the President of Eti-Osa Heritage, Adewale Sanni, has vowed that over his dead body would Tinubu’s company start collecting tolls before the completion of work, the former governor appears unperturbed. At a recent stakeholders meeting in Eti-Osa by the state government to mediate in the face-off with the company, Sanni said the people of the community would rather die than watch the state suffer from the concession arrangement. The community decried the insensitivity of the state government to its plight, saying it was ripped off and was not carried along before the idea was imposed on them. In the ensuing melee, the Lagos State Commissioner for Physical Planning, Francisco Abosede, was almost lynched.



Apart from the political imbroglio between Fashola and Tinubu some section of the State are also complaining bitterly about Fashola’s government, especially its new tax regime and other policies and steps that lacks human face. Recently in the state embargo was placed on all surface sand mining and dredging activities across the state, the Commissioner for Waterfront Infrastructure Development, Prince Adesegun Oniru made that that announcement public, particularly to the concerned stakeholders. According to Oniru, the decision of the state government to suspend sand mining activities till further notice is geared towards checking environmental havoc caused by illegal sand digging activities in most parts of the state, which to the state government is worsening the fragile ecosystem of the State and could lead to serious and irreparable damage to the landscape of the area apart from degradation of the environment. Meanwhile stakeholders in the Lagos mining business have repudiated the activities of Lagos Government saying apart from the officials fees they pay to the state government over the years, LASTMA officials and members of the state task force often harass them and collect different fees from them ranging from N80,000 and N100,000.



They also said the multiplying effect of that embargo would take serious toll on builders in Lagos because it will now cause them double money to get sand for the construction and building of their structures. They also said the law was so that state will now gain full control of sand mining and issue secretly issue licenses to their party faithful (Action Congress) at the expense of non partisan Lagosians who have been in the business from time immemorial.

http://huhuonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=928:tinubu-demands-n13bn-payback-as-fashola-vows-to-decamp-a-expose-him-if-impeached&catid=103:more-news&Itemid=333

Is this another pdp conspiracy?.Can somebody please confirm this.All this for a man with no viable source of income prior to 1999 as one poster observed.