Group faults removal of Fashola’s budget from website

A group, BudgIT, which advocates transparency in government, has berated the Lagos State Government for removing the budgetary spending of former Governor Babatunde Fashola.

Fashola, according to information posted on the state government’s website, spent N78.3m on his personal website, www.tundefashola.com, and also spent N139m to drill two boreholes at the Lagos House, Ikeja.

Following the controversy the spending caused, the Governor Akinwunmi Ambode-led government removed Fashola’s budget from the website of the Lagos State Public Procurement Agency.

However, BudgIT, in a statement by its Lead Partner, Oluseun Onigbinde, said it was wrong of the state government to remove the budget without giving any explanation to taxpayers.

BudgIT, which was responsible for blowing the whistle on Fashola’s controversial website, said the action was in clear violation of the objectives of the procurement agency.

In a letter addressed to Ambode and the office of the state attorney-general, the group said the action was at variance with Ambode’s campaign promises which includes transparency in government.

The letter read in part, “It has come to our notice that previously published awarded contracts between 2013 and 2014 and approved by your agency has been removed from your website, www.lagosppa.gov.ng, without an explanation to taxpaying residents of Lagos and in clear violation of the Lagos State Public Procurement law.

“We wish to bring to your attention Section 8 Subsection 12 of the Lagos State Public Procurement Law 2011 which requires your agency to publish paper and electronic editions of the state procurement journal and procurement manual and maintain an archival system for the state procurement journal.

“The (removal of the budgetary spending) action which, is in clear violation of the objectives of the agency to ensure probity, accountability and transparency, is also an outright negation of Governor Ambode’s promise to Lagosians. In his campaign manifesto, Governor Ambode stated that his message is clearly to ‘embrace the three tenets of probity, accountability and transparency.”

The group said it was disappointing that rather than answer questions raised by Lagosians regarding how the state government could approve such huge sums of money for Fashola, the Ambode-led government chose to embrace secrecy.

The group, therefore, urged the government to ensure that the budgets were restored on the website as this was the only way to restore public confidence.