How Fashola Spent N78 million on website, mobile applications, others
Category: Lagos News
The immediate past governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola, has
finally responded to the allegation that he approved a contract worth
N78 million for the upgrade of his personal website.
Last weekend, analytic firm, BudgIT, revealed that Mr. Fashola
approved, before he left office, a contract of N78.3 million from the
state treasury for an upgrade of his personal website.
The news caused outrage among Nigerians who accused the former
governor of financial recklessness and the misappropriation of public
fund.
In a statement he personally signed on Thursday, Mr. Fashola admitted
that indeed a contract valued at that amount was awarded, but it
involves the provision of other services beyond the upgrade of the
website.
Mr. Fashola’s statement comes on the heels of the denial by the
contractor, Info Access Plus, that it received N78 million. The company
said though it quoted N12.5 million for the upgrade of the website, www.fashola.com, it only received N10 million from the state government.
On Thursday, the former governor said only N12 million was actually
awarded for the upgrade of the site while other services such as the
handover countdown clock, mobile apps for Google, for iOS ipad, for
Microsoft, and Blackberry and the annual maintenance cost for managing
the site make up the total of N78 million.
He said due process was followed before the contract was awarded and
that the procurement agency, PPA, did not raise any objection as at the
time the contract was awarded.
“It was for these services that the contract was issued for N78
million, which the Lagos State procurement agency gave a No Objection
based on the advice of the Ministry of Science and Technology, who are
the government adviser on ICT matters.
“In publishing the contract award which was the government tradition
under my watch, the procurement agency ‘s website summarized it as
‘upgrade’ only without detailing the other services and this has been
distorted by the agents of hate as their suspected ‘smoking gun’”, he
said.
On the accusation that the website was personal to him and that it
was inappropriate to use a public fund for its maintenance, he said he
site helped him to do his job as governor and to respond to the people.
“To date, there have been 27.666 million hits on this website, with
1,844 videos, 34,381 photographs, 2,531 Press releases and 595 speeches
among other items of public communication.”
He then claimed that people have been paid “large amount of money” to
deliberately distort allegations without evidence against him.
He said the website upgrade issue is the culmination of a string of
other unfounded allegations against him that started emanating toward
the end of his tenure in office.
Mr Fashola said he was first accused of fathering children from an
extra-marital affair, accused of orchestrating a conspiracy in the
National Assembly election and plunging the state into a deep debt
crisis. He said the allegations are not only false but wicked.
“I have no biological children other than my two children,” he said.
He explained that he adopted three children who were orphaned as a
result of the Dana Airplane crash of 2012. He said the adoption of the
children followed due process.
He said the allegations of his involvement in the National Assembly
election are “product of the imagination of those who made the
allegations.” He said he was out of the country at the time and only
returned to Abuja in the early hours of the morning of the election and
proceeded to Lagos from there.
On the allegation that he entrapped the state in huge debt, he said
the state has always been indebted and this is a reflection of the
growing population of the state and that the state has been running
deficit budgets for a long time to cater to the need of the growing
population.
“All the debts contracted in my time were approved by the parliament
in the annual budgets, some have been paid back and the financial status
was healthy and stable when I left. The outlook for the state and her
rating by Fitch was long-term foreign and local currency IDRs at ‘BB-,
short-term IDR at ‘B and national long-term rating at ‘AA+(nga)”
The former Lagos governor also chastised persons who had written petitions against him to the presidency.
“I expect them to know that allegations of wrong doing are not resolved without evidence, neither are they resolved in press conferences,” he said.
“I expect them to know that allegations of wrong doing are not resolved without evidence, neither are they resolved in press conferences,” he said.
Source: Premium Times
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