N78MILLION TOO LITTLE FOR FASHOLA TO STEAL, HE HAD ACCESS TO N400BILLION BUDGET – AKABUEZE

The immediate past Lagos State Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Ben Akabueze, has defended former Governor Babatunde Fashola following allegations of financial impropriety levelled against the former governor.

According to information posted on the website of the state government, Fashola spent N78.3m on the upgrade of his personal website, www.tundefashola.com and spent N139m on the construction of two boreholes at the Lagos House, Ikeja, while over N600m was spent on the renovation of a car park at the State House, Marina.

However, Akabueze, while speaking during a programme on Channels Television titled, “Straight Talk with Kadaria,” said N78m was too little for the former governor to steal.

“We ran an annual budget of over N400bn. I think that if he (Fashola) really wanted to steal money, it wouldn’t be N78m out of over N400bn that he had access to. Of course, every kobo of public funds must be accounted for and I hope in the future, we can get the full facts and it will be made available to the public.”