By-Leon Usigbe, Abuja
The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has warned that if Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is elected president, he may re-enact his habit of converting public assets to personal use.
The former vice president accused the ruling party flag bearer of planning to acquire federal government properties across the country if he becomes president.
These are contained in a statement issued on Sunday on his behalf by his Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, which noted the PDP presidential candidate’s reaction to Tinubu’s claim that Atiku sold off government properties and diverted the proceeds.
Shaibu stated that Lagos State, where Tinubu has allegedly been ruling directly and indirectly since 1999, “has become his fiefdom and property.:
He recalled that Tinubu, in an interview with The News Magazine some ten years ago, said he returned to Nigeria after the June 12 struggle with nothing.
Quoting Tinubu in the said interview, he recalled that the APC flag bearer stated: ‘They dispossessed me of the house, as well as my office on Saka Tinubu Street. My vehicles and everything else I owned. They claimed they found bombs in it and dispossessed me of it. I was totally cleaned out. I had only five shirts, £2000 pounds and jackets.’
Shaibu noted that Tinubu had become stupendously wealthy by allegedly taking over critical government properties.
He added: “Tinubu converted the land where Lagos Polytechnic (LASPOTECH) was located at Ikosi near the old toll gate. He chased away the students in 2006 and went ahead to locate the choice plots to himself, his cronies and political associates. The headquarters of Television Continental (TVC), which is owned by him, is located there. We dare him to deny this.”
Shaibu further stated that Tinubu became the first governor in history to sign an obnoxious pension law that guaranteed lifetime benefits for himself and his family.
According to the Atiku’s spokesman, the obnoxious pension law provides that a former governor of Lagos gets a residential house at any location of his choice in Lagos State and one residential house in the Federal Capital Territory for the governor on two consecutive terms.
He pointed out that Tinubu’s law also provides that he will get six brand new cars every three years, 100 per cent of the basic salary of the serving governor, free health care for himself and members of his family; furniture allowance, which is 300 percent of their annual basic salary house maintenance allowance, which is 10 per cent of basic salary utility allowance, which is 20 percent of the salary and car maintenance allowance, which is 30 per cent of the annual basic salary.
The statement said other benefits include an entertainment allowance, 10 per cent of the basic salary, and a personal assistant, who will earn 25 per cent of the governor’s annual basic salary. Even former Presidents of Nigeria do not enjoy such largesse.
“This is the state-sanctioned profligacy that Tinubu entrenched as a former governor,” the statement alleged.
Furthermore, the statement alleged: “Tinubu’s residence at 26 Bourdillon Road, Ikoyi, was initially falsely presented as the Guest House of an oil company. Later, he bought and used public funds to rebuild and renovate it. The Lagos State Government bought the property and paid an undisclosed sum to him and after that gave the property back to him under the bogus Pension Bill he signed into law shortly before he left office in 2007.
“The annex of the Lagos State Guest House in Asokoro, Abuja was bought by the State Government in 2006 for N450 million, purportedly to protect the main house from security breach. Shortly after Tinubu left office, the property was transferred to him under the pension plan he signed into law before leaving office.”
Shaibu added that the tollgates along the Lekki-Epe Expressway, the Alpha Beta Consulting, which has exclusive rights to collect taxes on behalf of the Lagos State Government and many other revenue-generating firms in Lagos are under the control of Tinubu.
He added, “While in office, he allocated to himself the former Strabag yard beside the Lagos State Secretariat at Alausa, Ikeja. It has now been converted to the Ikeja City Mall.”
“If Tinubu becomes President, he will take ownership of the federal secretariat, Ikoyi; the Tafawa Balewa Square and every other federal property in Ikoyi to the detriment of Nigeria.
“Already, his wife is a senator, his daughter is market woman leader and she extorts levies from traders across the state. His sister-in-law is a commissioner; his son enjoys advertisement monopoly in Lagos. His godson, MC Oluomo, is the transport kingpin who extorts billions of naira monthly from bus drivers. If Tinubu takes over as President, the entire country will become the property of his family. Nigerians will become second class citizens in their own country,” he added.
While accusing Tinubu of diverting public houses, the Atiku spokesman added: “In just four years, Lateef Jakande built over 30,000 housing units. Jakande lived in Ilupeju all his life. Can the same be said of the self acclaimed architect of modern Lagos who has spent more time allocating properties to himself and his family?”
