Chief
Olabode George, leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State,
has reacted to the allegations of money laundering, fraud and tax evasion
against Alpha Beta Consulting.
The firm has
exclusive right to collect taxes on behalf of Lagos State Government since
2002.
Commenting
on the matter, the former PDP Deputy National Chairman, said he hopes the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) would get to the root of the
matter.
George told
Thisday that it was unfortunate that “those who called others thieves were the
biggest criminals of all time”.
“I hope the
EFCC will have the nerve to unravel it. It will be the biggest scandal that
Nigeria has ever seen. It is mind-boggling and heart-breaking.
“All of them
who had shared of the rot must be exposed. It will redeem the credibility of
the EFCC.
“But first,
they must shut the place down and a law enacted that no one must collect
revenue on behalf of the state again and everyone involved must be exposed,”
George stated.
His reaction
came just as Adetunji Adegboyega, who is the lawyer to the man behind the
revelations and former managing director of Alpha Beta, Dapo Apara, said more
disclosures concerning the alleged N160 billion Lagos taxpayers monies allegedly
stolen by the company.
Apara had
accused the company of tax fraud amounting to N100 billion.
In a
petition to the EFCC, Apara claimed Alpha Beta, the firm with exclusive rights
to monitor and collect internally generated revenue on behalf of the Lagos
State “had been involved in fraud and money laundering”.
Meanwhile,
EFCC has acknowledged receipt of the petition written against Alpha Beta by
Apara.
It stated
that it was undergoing processing and evaluation just like other petitions
before deciding the next step.
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