Lagos politician, Olabode George has described as sacrilegious the collection of internally generated revenue in Lagos state by a private firm called AlphaBeta and earns around N7.5bn ($19 million) monthly, calling on the state government to block all forms of revenue leakages.
“There are so many leakages in the Lagos State Government purse. Take this AlphaBeta; who owns this AlphaBeta? What is the essence of the AlphaBeta? Where else in the world would you have an Inland Revenue Service, who have their own staff who are supposed to go out and collect the fees, but you have an independent company to be supposedly collecting the internally generated revenue from our state?
“It grosses around N50bn (about $130m) a month and you know how much that company (AlphaBeta) is paid 15% of it, that’s N7.5bn in thirty days going to the company, that is a leakage, that is sacrilegious,” said Mr George, who is also a former Deputy National Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party.
A few weeks ago, former Managing Director of AlphaBeta Consulting LLP, Oladapo Apara, had said the firm got over N150 billion as 10 per cent commission for “computing, tracking and reconciling” Lagos State’s Internally Generated Revenue since the year 2000.
Apara had also claimed that the consulting firm, which was floated in the year 2000, is being operated by a former governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu, through proxies.
The politician had earlier called for the permanent dismantling of the Lekki tollgate along the Lekki-Epe expressway and Lekki-Ikoyi Link Bridge in the State.
When he appeared on ARISE News, he re-echoed his stance and said; “this tollgate has been going on for years now, you know how much they gross averagely a day and in a year, that would have paid off for that road” and proposed that a monument should be erected in honour of those who reportedly died in the shooting of #EndSARS protesters last Tuesday.
George criticized Tinubu and his children for “unjustifiably” controlling and having access to top state positions and businesses.
“His son Seyi controls the whole signage for Lagos. Everybody who wants to put up an advert on any signboard you go to his company alone, is that justifiable, does that make any sense and you think people will not know.
“The first shopping mall, which was a pride to all of us in Lagos was constructed by Brigadier Mobolaji Johnson during his tenure, they demolished it, you know what is there now, Seyi Tinubu is keeping his private personal horses there, where is that pride, where has our heritage gone,” he said.
By Abel Ejikeme
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