Former Lagos State Governor and leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has taken over a prime property that was once the headquarters of Ikoyi-Obalande Local Government Development Area and relocated the local government secretariat to Obalende, a district in the commercial city of Lagos.
The huge and strategic parcel of land located at the junction of Alfred Rewane Road (Kingsway Road) and Glover Road in highbrow Ikoyi has been demolished to make way for prime construction believed to be blocks of serviced luxury flats.
The acquisition of the property is coming on the heels of the ACN’s defeat in the local government chairmanship election for Ikoyi-Obalende Local Council Development Area by the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) candidate, Mr. Ibrahim Babatunde Obanikoro.
The politician has also cornered the contract to reconstruct Glover Road using a proxy company P.W. Nigeria Limited.
Though THEWILL has not been able to get details of the transaction, several sources say the politician is recklessly acquiring properties in prime locations across the state with the assistance of current Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN).
Tinubu’s acquisitions since he left office cuts across real estate, media and aviation. His company AlphaBeta Consulting collects all Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) for Lagos State and some ACN controlled states. It gets to keep a sizeable chunk for itself. AlphaBeta is believed to rake in as much as N7 billion naira monthly as commission for its work.
The politician is also believed to own FirstNation Airlines, The Nation Newspaper, stakes in Oriental Hotel Victoria Island, Renaissance Hotel Ikeja, Eko Hotel Lagos, and the yet to be completed InterContinental Hotel located along Kofo Abayomi Street, near the popular Mega Plaza in Victoria Island. Tinubu also owns TV Continental (TVC) and Radio Continental.
The former Governor who was engulfed in a University certificate scandal during his tenure as Governor, also owns a huge shopping mall complex in Alausa, Ikeja, popularly called Shoprite by its mainland patrons.
THEWILL gathered that the shopping complex was constructed on a large parcel of land believed to have been hijacked from the Lagos State Government.
In a similar gestapo-style move, the governor also bullied Lagosians and acquired the Lekki-Epe highway, reconstructed and tolled the road under a highly controversial agreement.
Source: THEWILL