New Anti-graft Law Not Meant To Protect Tinubu, Says Lagos Govt

• They are not even talking about contractors who may go away with the state’s money

The Lagos state government has said the newly promulgated anti-corruption law in the state is not in anyway meant to shield a former governor of the state, Bola Tinubu, or anyone for that matter from prosecution.

Ekohotblog had, on Sunday, reported that governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu assented to a bill establishing an anti-corruption agency with sole rights to probe cases of corruption that have to do with the state.

This new agency will take over cases relating to Lagos from federal government-controlled anti-graft agencies like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

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The news was greeted with criticism and misgivings on social media as some Nigerians questioned the motive of the law, some inferred that the law was part of elaborate plan to remove any hurdle in the path of Tinubu who’s believed to be nursing presidential ambition and has a pending corruption case with EFCC.

But speaking on Arise TV on Tuesday, Gbenga Omotosho, Lagos commissioner for information, said the Sanwo-Olu-led administration is not seeking to protect any personality with the anti-graft law it recently signed.

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Omotosho said the law is to enforce accountability and transparency on anyone dealing with the state’s funds.

He noted that insinuations that the law was aimed at protecting Tinubu or anyone was conjectural and presumptuous.

“The idea that the law is to protect either Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu or anybody is highly speculative, presumptuous and in the conjectural imagination of anybody thinking so. It’s out of place for anybody to think that a law will be made because of a section of the society or some personalities,” the commissioner said.

“That’s not the aim of the law. Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the governor, said very clearly when he signed the law that he signed it for accountability so that people won’t misappropriate the state’s funds and get away with it.

“Why is it that people are talking about some personalities when you talk about corruption, they are not even talking about contractors who may go away with the state’s money without doing any job. There are many people who are supposed to be reined in through this law, not just some people.”