Bola Tinubu
By Our Reporter
-Alpha-Beta got over N150bn commission on Lagos revenue – Ex-MD
-You Stole Alfa-Beta N6billion- Alpha-Beta
The rift between the National Leader of All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu and the former Managing Director of Alpha-Beta Consulting LLP, Oladapo Apara is taking an interesting turn as the latter said the firm has 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 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.
He claimed that the business model was his brainchild but was hijacked, as Tinubu, who was then Lagos Governor, allegedly insisted on 70 per cent shareholding by his two nominees as a pre-condition to give approval.
Apara stated these in a suit he filed at the Lagos State High Court in Igbosere, seeking to recover “all the sums adjudged to be due to the claimant,” from the revenues so far made by Alpha-Beta.
He wants the money paid with 10 per cent interest.
The 1st-3rd defendants in the suit are Alpha-Beta Consulting LLP, Tinubu, and the firm’s current MD, Akin Doherty, who served as the Lagos State Commissioner for Finance during Tinubu’s administration.
But in a swift reaction to Apara’s allegations, Alpha-Beta Consulting firm on Friday reacted to the fraud allegation by Apara against Tinubu and the firm..
In a statement on Friday by one of the defendants in the suit filed by Apara, and current managing Director of the firm, Akin Doherty said that Apara’s allegations against Tinubu “in particular, show that he is bent only on creating sensational headlines to deflect attention from his own criminal activities.”
According to the statement, Doherty said “Dapo Apara began making his untrue allegations in the aftermath of his removal as Managing Director of Alpha Beta for fraud and unethical practices.” He explained that Apara used his position as Managing Director of the firm to siphon huge sums of money from the company “including but not limited to fraudulently converting $5 million; money allegedly used to pay for cloud based services that were eventually discovered to be worth less than $300,000.”
Doherty, who dismissed the alleged claim by Apara, that he was denied payment by the firm, said Apara who was a signatory to all the bank accounts of Alpha Beta from inception until his removal, received all his payments and entitlements until June 2018 when he was removed after his fraudulent misconduct was discovered. “In July 2018 further evidence of his fraudulent and unethical practices was uncovered, including the revelation that he converted approximately N6 billion belonging to Alpha Beta to his personal use. This fraud was reported to the authorities and Mr. Apara was subsequently invited to return to Nigeria from his hiding place in Dubai to render account. To date, he has refused to do so. Instead, Mr. Apara chose to embark on an aggressive smear campaign seemingly in an effort to blackmail us into ending the investigations into his misconduct”, he added
While reacting to the court summons, the statement described the case brought by Mr. Apara as an extension of his campaign of calumny; launched to avoid the consequences of his fraudulent conduct over the years.
“This court action by Dapo Apara is the continuation of Mr. Apara’s blackmail tactics and an attempt to distract from the huge funds he misappropriated from Alpha Beta while he was in charge of its affairs.
“Since 2018, he has filed many suits in Lagos and Abuja on the same matter, engaged in Arbitration, the Police, EFCC and ICPC. However, in all that time, he has steadfastly refused to honour all invitations by the authorities to return to Nigeria and account for the huge funds he misappropriated. The uncorroborated allegations against Asiwaju Bola Tinubu by Dapo Apara, in particular, show that he is bent only on creating sensational headlines to deflect attention from his own criminal activities.
“Although, we have not been served with the court summons, we look forward to the opportunity the case provides to publicly present the full picture of Mr. Apara’s misconduct, deceit and fraud and to have the matter resolved by the court once and for all.
