If the news coming out from the grapevine about the unhealthy financial state of Lagos State is anything to go by, we may be in for a serious economic crisis. Governor Akinwunmi Ambode may need more than financial wizardry to navigate the troubled financial waters, a condition which his predecessor, former Governor Babatunde Fashola created before he left office on May 29.
Added to this is the messy situation in which Fashola left the Lagos State Civil Service through nepotism which is causing ripples as he has upset the Civil Service tradition by populating it with his relations, acquaintances and female friends without due process. This has become the talk of the town at popular joints.
The official debt profile of Lagos State handed over to Ambode by Fashola is N418bn (Four Hundred and Eighteen billion naira) but investigation has revealed that it may eventually hit N500 billion (Five Hundred billion naira) and still counting. This is a cause of worry and may be a major obstacle to Ambode in delivering his electoral promises. It will take Ambode’s financial wizardry and his well-grounded background in economic planning to take the state out of economic doldrums. Sources at Alausa reveal a gory picture of debt profile of a gargantuan nature and this excludes commitment to contractors over projects that are yet to be completed.
It is disheartening and disappointing to note that the 2015 budget of the state has been drawn down by the outgone administration of Fashola to about 80 per cent as at May, 2015 when it was not expected to have drawn more than 30 per cent. The financial recklessness of the Fashola administration is shocking with such a percentage of the budget drawn by him without any corresponding project he can point to on which it was spent.
This is a deliberate ploy to create financial problems for the Ambode administration. If these allegations are found to be true, it may overshadow whatever achievements that may have been credited to the Fashola administration in the last eight years. While it is normal for states to borrow from the capital market to execute projects, this should not be taken to abnormal heights such that it would paralyse activities in the state and create a condition of economic bondage for his successor moreso, when the amount purportedly owed is not commensurate with the projects on the ground.
Apart from putting all his residual experience into use, Ambode may not be able to run his government without a supplementary budget as what is left behind by Fashola is a depleted budget which may hamper the take-off of his administration not to talk of executing any capital project as many commitments to contractors have piled up.
A look at the 2015 Lagos State budget shows that many projects prioritised by the Fashola administration are those without return on investments and this does not make any economic sense. His pronouncement when presenting the budget to the House of Assembly that he had retained the same size of the budget of 2014 in order to keep zero deficit for the incoming government is only on paper as that has not happened.
Despite Fashola’s insistence that the 2015 budget would focus on the payment of contractors (and we know the reason for that is to mop up), it is curious that most obligations to contractors are still not met such that the debt profile at about N500bn is still stupendously high and scary.
Apart from the apparent financial recklessness of the Fashola administration stated above, he has polluted the Lagos State Civil Service by imposing his relatives, cronies and female friends while by-passing the state Civil Service rules. The story is all over the place how Fashola unilaterally recruited members of his family especially his mistresses who later bore him children into the civil service, placing them on directorate level without going through normal recruitment.
There was the case of a lady who, on the directive of Fashola, was placed on grade level 16 without previously being a civil servant. There is yet another one who he first appointed as the deputy chief of staff and was later placed on level 17 in the civil service.
This is already causing ripples in the civil service as tongues are wagging on the undue advantage of non-civil servants brought by the governor to become bosses over bonafide civil servants who had gone through the crucibles of recruitment, training and promotion examinations. If this is true, it is a scandal that stinks to high heavens and will shock all lovers of Fashola who before now, held him in high esteem as a performer and a person of high moral standard.
I charge Governor Ambode to conduct a thorough investigation into these allegations with a view to rectifying the abnormally as it is capable of lowering the morale of civil servants who already felt short-changed with the abnormal recruitment. If this is not rectified, it is capable of affecting the performance of the civil servants who may in turn not put in their best in implementing the reforms planned by Governor Ambode.
I also strongly advise Governor Ambode not to shield the huge financial burden and the mismanagement of his predecessor, so that he doesn’t cover smoke with a blanket. The earlier he let Lagosians know the true state of the finances of Lagos State, the better. I just hope these stories about financial impropriety and abuse of office against Fashola are not true. I still want to give him a benefit of the doubt but if they are true, many Fashola fans would be more than disappointed.
Meanwhile, Governor Ambode should brace up for the task ahead for the financial redemption of Lagos State. He must go back to his bag of financial wizardry to bring out all the remedies he knows, to wriggle out of the financial quagmire his predecessor might have put the state. He needs to put on, or even double his thinking cap at this critical juncture, especially with ominous signs on dwindling revenue from the federation account.
Anything short of this will spell doom for Ambode’s planned lofty programmes as there will be no foundation to build on as Fashola built on the foundation of his predecessor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. Fashola would not have achieved much if his predecessor left a mountain of inexplicable and inconsiderate debts for him.
AYODEJI AFOLABI
aimon@gmail.com

www.punchng.com/opinion/the-burden-of-the-fashola-years/

Gov Ambode can't look into anything, If was another party that took over from BRF by now we go don hear noise taya. What ambode would do is to add his own debts. Baba Asiwaju's return from the governors sef na like 250Billion.

He should be arrested, probed and then jailed for rap.ing lagos blind,

Tort dey said fashola was a saint #dunnno

Is Fashola on Nairaland ?

It's glaring to sound minds that this article was sponsored by Bola Tinubu.He is afraid of Fashola's growing popularity and the aim of the article is to paint Fashola in a bad light so that President Buhari wouldn't give him important role in his government. APC will be the loser of this propaganda.

look at the debt this Fashola left for Lagos close to 500b. Yet this bigots keep praising this thief. This Fashola is nothing but a Criminal and should be arrested.

iseyinoro:
It's glaring to sound minds that this article was sponsored by Bola Tinubu.He is afraid of Fashola's growing popularity and the aim of the article is to paint Fashola in a bad light so that President Buhari wouldn't give him important role in his government. APC will be the loser of this propaganda.

You read in-between the line.

I dont trust this Ambode guy. Trying to paint Fashola black just to settle old scores ba

Foolish Ambode, trying to tarnish Fashola's reputation...How i wish Jimi hadn't played the ethnic card.. I wouldn't have wasted my voted on this puppet called Ambode.. it's so unfortunate

I thought ambode and fashola were close, so how come he is now lamenting....ambode should stop lamenting and put those accounting and managerial skils he claimed to possess into action

Fashola?? wow.

TRILLIONIAR:
I dont trust this Ambode guy. Trying to paint Fashola black just to settle old scores ba

Exactly..The idio.t was Sacked by Fashola because he stole Lagos Money..

That article wasn't written by ambode.
You don't have to follow closely to know that Fashola has plungedLagos into serserious debt

ki02020:
I thougth ambode and fashola were close so how come he is now lamenting

They were never close.. Fashola did all that to save his party..

olatunji21:

They were never close.. Fashola did all that to save his party..

More UNLIKE saraki, right?

iseyinoro:
It's glaring to sound minds that this article was sponsored by Bola Tinubu.He is afraid of Fashola's growing popularity and the aim of the article is to paint Fashola in a bad light so that President Buhari wouldn't give him important role in his government. APC will be the loser of this propaganda.

Brro, not everything is propaganda. When I also heard of the kind of person Fashola is, I was shocked. It was like they were talking about someone else. I have uncles that were commissioners and permanent secretaries during his tenureand they talked about everything. Fashola believes he's better than everybody and what he does is genius. So many things are happening that we don't know of.

So people still believe Ambode was sacked. Nigger has beenplanning to leave years bbefore because he couldn't work with Fashola. They hardly saw eye to eye.

olatunji21:
Foolish Ambode, trying to tarnish Fashola's reputation...How i wish Jimi hadn't played the ethnic card.. I wouldn't have wasted my voted on this puppet called Ambode.. it's so unfortunate

Will you stop making false accusations before God strikes you if you know how Ambode has been covering Fashola's yansh just because of party. Go and ask people in Alausa how Fashola misappropriated funds

Everything about Fashola is a big fat lie, if Ambode were to open his yansh you will see that Fashola was the biggest thief ever

ki02020:

More UNLIKE saraki, right?

Exactly

Freelancer00:
Brro, not everything is propaganda. When I also heard of the kind of person Fashola is, I was shocked. It was like they were talking about someone else. I have uncles that were commissioners and permanent secretaries during his tenureand they talked about everything. Fashola believes he's better than everybody and what he does is genius. So many things are happening that we don't know of.

I used to defend Fashola until I heard from people in the know. The first 4years he worked, the next 4 years he used to embezzle and settle his friends and family. If no be the same party people would have realized by now that Fashola was worse than Amaechi at looting. All the loan he collected and yet nothing to show for it. The guy is highly over-rated

See the roads he said he fixed , see them flooding anyhow. He filled Alausa with his family and girlfriends

lolababe331e:


I used to defend Fashola until I heard from people in the know. The first 4years he worked, the next 4 years he used to embezzle and settle his friends and family. If no be the same party people would have realized by now that Fashola was worse than Amaechi at looting. All the loan he collected and yet nothing to show for it. The guy is highly over-rated

See the roads he said he fixed , see them flooding anyhow. He filled Alausa with his family and girlfriends

Vastly overrated. Hopefully Ambode cleans up the mess.

Fashola should be judge by the works he did not the debt he incurred , where did you think he's getting the money for the massive project he was executing, no matter what I hear, except I see physical evidence, I still hold fashola in high esteem

TunjiMsp:
Fashola should be judge by the works he did not the debt he incurred , where did you think he's getting the money for the massive project he was executing, no matter what I hear, except I see physical evidence, I still hold fashola in high esteem

There's no doubt about the fact that Fashola achieved a lot and also surpassed the achievement of Tinubu.No amount of campaign of calumny against Fashola by some wicked souls will stop Fashola from serving Nigeria in a national capacity.
God bless Nigeria.
Lalasticlala front page please!