Governor Babatunde Fasola

Lagos State , Mr. Babatunde Fasola, SAN, is once again in the eye of another storm bordering on graft, as it is being alleged that the state spent a whooping £400, 000 to host Manchester United star player Rio Ferdinand.

The visit to Nigeria two weeks ago by the assistant captain of the Premier League Champions, Ferdinand was adequately budgeted for by his agents. Ferdinand goes round specific places in the summer as part of pet project conducting soccer coaching clinics and motivational fora for prospective soccer whiz kids. His recent trip was no exception until Mr. Fasola and some members of the Lagos Executive Council contrived an idea to hijack the world class soccer star and organize phony receptions and chieftaincy title conferment ceremony for him.

The wasteful venture is now generating ripples and leading to startling disclosures on a usual pattern of profligacy by officials of the administration in Lagos State.

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Governor Fasola is a protégé of the Asiwaju (The Leader) of Lagos, former Governor Ahmed Bola Tinubu. He allegedly receives his misleading political counsels from the leader so called. Sources told pointblanknews.com that Tinubu literarily scripts the millennium financial strategies for the state, with several earmarks and pork attached as usual.

According to sources close to Lagos State Government, Fasola in a manner reminiscent of the escapade of Adisa Akinloye, Senator Joseph Wayas, Festus Okotieboh in Nigeria’s past failed republics, regularly organizes spending spree and baseless overseas trip for virtually all the members of the Lagos State executive, at tax payers expense. It is alleged that such trips are usually for weekend English premiership Soccer league games.

Only recently, a Lagos State delegation led by the Governor was said to have traveled to England to watch the FA cup final match between Portsmouth and Cardiff. The Lagos State Delegation was sighted at the VIP corner of the Wembley Stadium.

It would be recalled that former Nigerian Ambassador to the United States, Dr. George Obiozor had facilitated the roundly condemned $5 Million promotional trip for some American footballers to showcase a relatively unpopular American football in Abuja, Nigeria and according to him, promote integration.

Also, the wife of then Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Titi Abubakar, using her pet project WOTCLEF and the support of a California based Nigerian wilier-dealer, one Bill Nwoye was accused of paying about $300, 000 (Three Hundred Thousand Dollars), to Laila Ali, (Daughter of Mohammed Ali) for a baloney boxing event promoted to educate the people about HIV/AIDS and create awareness about child trafficking in Nigeria. The event never materialized as Laila Ali failed to show up. Bill Nwoye would later sue Ms. Ali to recover the money. Ms. Ali won on technical ground.

She had argued that “My fight that was supposed to take place in Nigeria did not happen because the people who were putting the event together did not hold up to their end of the deal.”

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