₦4.6 billion: CSGGG faults published allegations against Fashola

The Civil Society Groups for Good Governance, CSGGG on Wednesday, condemned publications by two major media platform indicting the then Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola of illegal payment of ₦4.6 billion into the personal accounts of some officials.

Comrade Ogakwu Dominic in a press statement, made available to newsmen, described the action of the platforms as a malicious attempt to tarnish the good image of Babatunde Fashola , cause chaos and mislead Nigerians.

Ogakwu in his text is of the opinion that the media as watchdog of the society should embrace the need to tow the path of confirmation, balancing perspectives in its reportage instead of being biased just to gain popularity and gain more audience. He reiterated that getting clarifications and disseminating the appropriate information is key and the unity of our Nation is non-negotiable.

His statement read in full: Our Organisation, Civil Society Groups for Good Governance, CSGGG, an assemblage of over 180 civil society organizations totally committed to advocating for patriotism, truth, fair hearing and improvement of knowledge that will guarantee standards at all levels of services delivery; A voice and accountability platform that consciously breed transparency and neutrality, have taken keen interest in and have observed with staggering consternation the recent publication by PremiumTimesng and SaharaReporters on 16th November, 2020, themed: INVESTIGATION: Authority Stealing: How Fashola’s ministry illegally paid ₦4.6BN into officials‘ personal accounts and How Ministry Headed By Ex-Lagos Governor, Fashola, Illegally Paid ₦4.6bn Into Officials’ Personal Accounts, indicting and dragging through the mud the Ministry of works, power and housing headed by BabatundeFashola in allegations of paying over N4.6bn into 21 private accounts of staffs in the ministry.

First of it is very imperative to note that the role, the media can play as watchdog of the society is indispensable, hence the urgent need to also remember that information’s should not be published until adequate research is made and its coherence and completeness are achieved, because misleading reports is capable of creating chaos, causing panic and hatred which could be detrimental to national development.

The above assertion is premeditated on the fact that as the Fifth estate of the realm and as an organization averse to dishonesty, subterfuge and other sharp practices, we have duly made a research and carried out an independent investigation into the allegations above-mentioned, and it is on this note that we have decided to let the media in on the facts, and also to decry the constant mis-report against the person of Fashola during his time in office as the a Minister of Works and Housing, who was accused of paying into accounts monies amounting to Four Billion Six Hundred Million. It may interest you to know that Olasehinde Micah, Ogueri Ugochukwu Pascal, OluwadareFestus Oluwatayo, Adekunle Ogunfadebo and Ahmad Mohammad, were all projects accountants of the Ministry accountants of the Ministry, and monies paid into their accounts was to finance different government programmes making the  accounts official accounts as it was tagged “Projects Account”; a situation which was even consented and appended by the office of the Accountant General of the Federation an official letter.(Documents to be provided upon request)

Also, All MDA’s prior to Federal Treasury Circular No. TRY/A7 & B7/2020 OAGF/CAD/026/V.111/525 of 23rd June 2020, were engaged judiciously in the practice of usage of projects/programme accountants to finance various government programmes, direct labour projects and of course even payments of some personnel entitlements; All these was necessitated by a number of reasons among which are;

It is true that huge amounts of monies in the accounts controlled by civil servants calls for immediate investigation, we however embarked on more research and confirmed that such action was carried due to some realities which are in the offing; the breakdown of report on this situation are as follow;

Furthermore, on the issue of right of way which is the legal right, established by usage or grant, to pass along a specific route through grounds or property belonging to another, and contrary to your representation published in the media space, appropriation before us for every recovery of right of ways nationwide is 2.3 billion naira and 700 million naira was cash. This is to mean that there was no extra budgetary expenditure as claimed by the mediums. In addition to this, the funds were transferred electronically to the beneficiaries’ in line with the e-payment guidelines and extant rules. Project account was merely used because the payment platform does not recognize these beneficiaries. A project accountant does not need to be at different locations at the same time to transfer funds to approved beneficiaries or the committee members that goes to the locations.

Again, on the issue of paying YEZAD Investment Concept Nig. LTD twice for the same contract, we were informed that yes the same net amount of forty-nine million seven hundred sixty-one thousand nine hundred four and seventy-six naira (N49,761,904.76) was paid on the same day via the same mandate to the same contractor through the same accounts, but It was definitely for different contracts. The Ministry is of dual sectors and contracts were for different sectors, it has in common the same payment platform since it is under one ministry and duly all vehicles were delivered.

To effectively drive home the need for proper investigation before any publication is made, the Minister Babatunde Fashola, have personally answered to all the anti-graft agencies interrogating the matter, such wasn’t reported but rather completely ignored. Also for clarity, indeed payment were made in respect of capacity building through the said project accountants in 2018 as reported but you gentlemen of the press need to also know that information’s’ at our disposal have revealed that it was not to the tune of the amounts reported, this is to say perhaps the figures were inflated by opponents and some unscrupulous elements to cause confusion and to push Nigerians into faulting and dragging the former minister. It is also crucial to note that the exercise took place, the programmewas duly approved and all the enshrined procedures and protocols that had to be observed were observed and the funds transferred directly to the respective accounts of all the eligible beneficiaries.

Finally, we want to further reiterate that “Truth” is the holy chalice of journalism, the media should not embarked on the journeys of castigating public office holders for mere likes, readership and large audience, journalist should be abreast and completely open with how government financial transactions works or are operated especially, as it bothers on projects accountants, before running in to file their stories for publication just for public applause. Hence we demand that PremiumTimesNG, Sahara Reporters and other mediums, that have published the story so far, pull it down, seek clarifications and then go back to do detailed report for publication. Disseminating the appropriate information is Key and the Unity of our Nation is non-negotiable.