Babatunde Fashola: May your loyalty not be tested

By Joseph Edgar . . .

This statement has kept me awake all night. This was Fashola’s response to a question asked him on getting into office on the back of a ‘big brother’. That statement is complex and confusing making me suspect that unraveling this question would lead to the solution of most of our political issues in this country.

May your loyalty not be tested. What does that mean? was he covering up for somebody or something. Was this a cry of frustration or a plea for help? Who is testing his loyalty and loyalty to whom? I can’t sleep o.

Fashola should be subpoenaed to come and give us insights. This is not a laughing matter, it needs to be unraveled. This statement has far reaching connotations to the Nigerian polity. But our Senators in their usual manner laughed off this statement and asked BRF to take a bow and walk away with the only opportunity we would have in a long time to get a clear cut solution to the issue of political patronage.

Fashola came across as very intelligent and clear, although his answers to the issue of borehole and website begged the point. His answers were not coherent and failed to recognize the fact that as the Executive Governor he still reserved the right to refuse such bogus payment even if it had gone through the whole process of procurement, a defense he is hiding behind.

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I run a small firm and when payments come to me, even having gone through the whole process of compliance and internal control plus procurement, I still cut down on the figures if I’m not comfortable. So as a sitting governor and one as brilliant as we saw yesterday, he cannot tell me that N78m was perfectly okay for a website, or N100m for a borehole or how much did they quote for that small thing.

That apart, I’m still happy that despite these glitches, Nigeria still has a Fashola to serve us. At least like he said, nobody has accused him of enriching himself and if you compare these amounts to the Deziani figures, I would still forgive Fashola even if he stole it. After spending eight years as governor of the biggest economy in Nigeria and the fifth largest in Africa he could only be accused of stealing just N378m. Even me, I will not test his loyalty.

Well done egbon and thumbs down to the Senate for letting us miss this opportunity.

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