Obasa’s bombshell on Lagos councils

THE public engagement mantra of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is “see something, say something”.

Weeks back, Lagos number three citizen and Speaker of the state assembly, MudashiruObasa saw something and said something. Despite employing a lot of eu”hemism and innuendos in raising the alarm, the public message was still very clear; public funds are being wantonly looted in Lagos councils. At the meeting with incumbent chairmen and their management teams, Obasa wasn’t coy about the call to arm in repudiating suffocating/meddling predecessors and being a lawyer himself, he must have known the implication of his open allegation that now-ex-chairmen who stepped down in July were still signing cheques for the release of councils’ money, months after quitting office. That is a criminal offence.

In dismissing Obasa as an accountability ambassador, his alleged corroded credibility as a manager of resources is being deployed to cancel his anti-corruption passion, with his probity gospel branded a baloney to position himself for the gubernatorial ticket of the ruling APC in the state, to which all the 57 council chairmen also belong.

What really is the worth of Obasa’s expose on the rot in Lagos councils? Is he believable or just playing politics? Well, as one of the three top guys in the leadership of the state and the head of a crucial arm of government, he isn’t and can’t be bereft of authentic information concerning resource management in the state, especially at the local government level where he has different committees exercising oversight functions and reporting back to him. Two, security reports are statutorily within his reach and critical government functionaries and apparatuses at his beck and call. Three, he is a big gun in the politics of his party and Lagos ruling establishment, with fingers deep in critical institutions of governance and politicking. Except he chose to be mischievous, his allegations are bound to be factual. Added to it is the fact that none of the accused immediate chairmen whose hands were reportedly found in cookie jar, has come into the open with a denial. Obasa also mentioned suspicious loans (I believe with Irrevocable Payment Orders) and likely tied to spurious projects. Pray, when would all the ingredients of corruption be taken to be present in his public accusation before probes are launched by the assembly which appropriated the funds being shovelled into private accounts and the EFCC with its eagle eyes.

If Obasa stopped at just the callout without legislative moves to recover the public funds he claimed had been stolen by office holders he claimed to know, he would be confirming the suspicion he cherry-picked his objects of attack for political capital with the incumbents. He may be their hero and even earn their loyalty ahead of his rumoured gubernatorial run, but he would remain a mere “player” to Lagosians. How do you convince such a people to hand you a first citizen mandate when you are not fighting for them as the third citizen. My Bible says only those who are faithful in little things will be faithful in large things and the dishonest in little things will still be dishonest in much” (Luke 16:10). Whether Obasa is running for governor or back to his house in 2027, he owes the traumatised people of the state, using their current mandate he is holding in trust, to bring them justice against the alleged looters. He must act now.

From sources in established quarters, I learnt that the Speaker’s outburst was ordinary onion peels, in digging the layers of the rot and that contrary to his projection of the incumbents as victims of knee-on-the-neck by jackal predecessors, what actually happened was looting baton simply exchanging hands.

A preliminary report by an anti-corruption Watchdog in collaboration with government insiders, which I gleaned, revealed mind-boggling alleged acts of brigandage and larceny by both the incumbent chairmen and their predecessors. And the findings came with receipts. Like the Speaker, I saw something and will say something.

A sampler. An immediate past chairperson of a development council (LCDA) on the Island got 512 million naira as allocation for her last month in office. It was three days to her exit. By the time the new man took over, a whopping 492 million naira had disappeared. She spent 492 million in 72 hours, leaving behind a paltry N20 million for her successor. Seven councillors who served with this “princess” got a million naira each. The supervisory councillors also got parting gift in millions. And everyone went home for thanksgiving.

According to verifiable records, the LCDA got N4.8 billion as allocation between January and July, 2025. It would be for investigators to establish if delivery matched income. A newly-built multi-million naira hotel in Osun State capital is being linked to her. There is also a new property in Magodo GRA Phase 2, though nothing is being alleged at this point.

Let me also quote a portion of the report, “The brazen (alleged) mismanagement of public funds by immediate past and newly elected Local Government chairmen in Lagos State is unparalleled by any Local Government in Nigeria. There is a disturbing pattern of (alleged) looting, particularly the (alleged) diversion of monthly Joint Allocation Committee (JAC) funds.

“Recently, the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly highlighted this issue when he called them to a meeting and drew the attention of these chairmen and their management, yet the impunity persists.

“There is a formula ratio of 30% to the management staff from and payment made from the LG accounts, particularly when it is spurious, which they tag as “RUN’; management gets this 30%, plus another 5% for retirement.

“This cadre of management officials also (allegedly) buy their posting from the Local Government Service Commission at varying cost, from Five Million Naira to Twenty Million Naira with a monthly premium of Two million, Five Hundred Thousand Naira for “Category A” LG and in that order. Indeed, brother to the (redacted) is the arrow head of this cartel. He is a director in one of the Local Governments. He is (allegedly) feared by even the Local Government Service Commission members.

“Investigation revealed that newly-elected officials, despite receiving July and August allocations, have (allegedly) squandered these funds with reckless abandon.

“For instance, the Chairman of a metropolitan LG has embarked on lavish trips to London, Saudi Arabia (under the guise of “lesser Hajj”), and Dubai, accompanied by associates for “birthday festivities of an urbane Oba”.

“Meanwhile, his counterpart in an LCDA stands accused of siphoning over ₦2 billion to construct private properties within the council area, now under ICPC investigation. Such actions starkly contradict their mandate to drive grassroots development.

“Equally troubling are reports that some immediate past council Chairmen still control their Council accounts through payment of frivolous contracts (allegedly) awarded by them and receive inflows into their accounts, raising questions about oversight.

“The Speaker’s warning to current Chairmen appears ignored, as the propensity to loot now rivals governance priorities. This culture of impunity, treating public funds as personal ATMs, undermines trust in local governance and deprives communities of critical infrastructure and services,” the report alleged.

It further called on the governor to, “Initiate immediate audits of all LGs/LCDAs to trace fund utilization, sanction indicted officials/including recovering misappropriated funds, strengthen transparency mechanisms such as mandating public expenditure reports, stop forthwith any posting, deployment or moving around of Council staff pending an holistic audit of same and appropriately relieve this set of Local Government Service Commissioners and their Permanent Secretaries and Directors involved in establishment matters.

“The time to act is now. Lagosians demand accountability, not luxury junkets funded by their sweat. Failure to address this crisis risks normalizing corruption and crippling local governance,” the mini report noted.

Recently, the chairman of EFCC, Ola Olukoyede, disclosed that investigations revealed civil servants are outperforming politicians in looting, noting that “Statistics have shown and we have evidence to prove that most houses in Asokoro and Maitama are owned by civil servants. This is the shocking truth Nigerians must wake up to. The volume of money stolen by establishment people, the so-called career civil servants, far exceeds what most politicians have stolen. From our investigation, it is clear that politicians cannot steal without the active collaboration of establishment insiders. Political appointees come and go, but these civil servants remain embedded, powerful and often untouchable”.

Maybe Olukoyede should not limit his search to Abuja. The ongoing anti-corruption drive in Lagos at the council level has also been yielding alleged palatial homes of billionaire civil servants.

The one identified in the preliminary report quoted above is brother to a powerful office holder in the state. He is a director in a local government on the Island but his Lekki home is reportedly a sight for the sight. The EFCC chair spoke of civil servant owning houses their salary for their entire 35 years in service would not build. Yet, like this director with a powerful last name, their children and spouses still live expensive life abroad. This “untouchable” fellow reportedly withdrew the wife from a somewhat well-paid banking job, to relocate her and the children.

Yes, it is incontestable that local government administration is an organised crime nationwide with both state leadership and council administrators raping the system without let. But Lagos can lead in changing the narrative. Thankfully, President Bola Tinubu has demonstrated commitment to wean the governors off grassroots finances. He should make it a rounded justice for the people by ordering a probe into the rapacity going on in his backyard. Yoruba will say, “ilelatinkoeso rode.” Charity begins at home.