Probe Chairman Trapped In UK With Fashola

The plan by the Lagos State House of Assembly to probe Governor Babatunde Fashola has suffered another setback as the Chairman of the investigative panel, Hon. Ajibayo Adeyeye is stranded in London with Fashola. The volvanic dust that led to the cancellation of flights to and from Europe has made it impossible for Adeyeye and the governor to travel back to Nigeria.

P.M.NEWS authoritatively gathered that Adeyeye was on the entourage of Fashola in America where he had gone to give a lecture at Harvard University. They travelled from United States to London where they are now stranded.

A source close to the Speaker of the House, Hon. Adeyemi Ikuforiji, who did not want his name mentioned because he is not allowed to speak to the press, defended Adeyeye for being in the entourage of the governor.

He said Adeyeye was picked by the governor while he was in the United States to be with him.

Also, the two weeks given to the panel to submit its report is no longer realisable as the panel was yet to begin sitting since its chairman was not around.

When contacted, the spokesperson of the Assembly, Hon. Ipoola Omisore tried to be evasive, saying he was not aware that the chairman of the panel travelled with the governor to America.

An observer, who craved anonymity, said if the House had truly wanted to probe the governor, they should have chosen people like Hon. Adelabu Onibiyo, who is fearless to investigate the governor and not a pro-Fashola lawmaker who had travelled with the governor to the United States.

However, the True Face of Lagos has told the House of Assembly to make public the probe of the governor over alleged financial recklessness.

Chairman of True Face, Mr. Adeshina Adebayo in a letter to Speaker of the House said the request was borne out of concern for the House not to bow to extraneous pressure and political factors at the expense of the overriding public interest to jettison public hearing in favour of ‘in camera’ investigation.

“The issue is a public one and to this extent, it should not be retrieved from public view at its most critical stage of investigation/probe, the outcome of which would, in the final analysis, determine the culpability or innocence of the main dramatis personae of this serious matter.

“It would be most unfair to Lagosians, the principal characters alleged, and even the True Face of Lagos, which is alleging that all that shall be heard is verdict of the panel’s findings without giving the general public the benefit of monitoring the process of investigation which will enhance the credibility or otherwise of the panel’s job,” the letter stated.

The body said it believed the House was not interested in shielding anybody from justice nor would want to treat anybody as a sacred cow in this matter.

“In the absence of this scenario, we admonished the House to give Lagosians the opportunity of not just hearing the outcome, but seeing the process of the panel’s investigation.   It has already become a public, national and international issue; its investigation should not be a closed-door, behind-the-scene engagement.

“We encourage you to be open, just, fair, transparent and firm always; operating, however, within the purview of constitutionality and the most salient democratic values of international best practices of public investigation,” it added