Our attention has been drawn to a series of corrupt and fraudulent practices of Dr. Femi Oke- Osanyintolu, the Director-General of Lagos State Emergency Agency LASEMA. Dr Osanyintolu, who since appointment has been running the agency without transparency and accountability and has become a threat to the safety of Lagosians, through his activities, which are becoming inimical to the efficiency of the agency. As a classical example of the many corruption going on in the commission, Dr Osanyintolu has continued over time, to arbitrarily singlehandedly misappropriate funds meant to decommission the Lagos State Command & Control Centre, the nucleus of information & intelligence gathering pivotal to safety, security and emergency response in Lagos State.
It could be recalled that there were complaints on the poor state of the Telecommunication equipment which adversely affected calls that are relayed via the emergency toll line 112/767 which are usually terminated before reaching the call center for onward escalation to the control room for multi-agency coordination and response to calls.
In a swift response, the Lagos State governor,Babajide Sanwoolu visited and inspected the distressed Mast Housing Telecommunication equipment of telecom companies which supports and enables the functionality of the emergency toll free line 112/767 used by the public to report security,safety and emergency disaster incident usually relayed to the command and control center for immediate response.
The governor subsequently order an immediately release of funds to LASEMA to work with relevant stakeholders and Telecom companies providers towards ensuring that the command and control center works effectively after the Ministry of Science & Technology, Ministry of Works, LASMIRA and LASEMA had jointly inspected the mast and certified that it was defective.
Alas, it is demeaning to note that the Director-General of LASEMA refused to abide by the prescribed agreed steps that would ensure sustainability and workability of the project as unanimously agreed by all concerned stakeholders and Telecom companies involved in the project.
Upon receipt of the fund, Dr Femi Oke-Osanyintolu singlehandedly and fraudulently engaged the services of faceless and incompetent contractors rather than the Telecoms companies to lay. He had since squandered and misappropriated the approved money while the project has met brick walls and was abandoned without meeting the set timeline.
We, therefore, call on the Lagos State governor and the anti-corruption agencies, to immediately arrest and prosecute Dr Femi Oke-Osanyintolu and his kleptomaniac collaborators to ensure justice, restore sanity, let justice take its course and he should serve as a lesson to others as we jointly work towards egalitarianism.
We urge Gov Babajide Sanwo-Olu to order an immediate investigation into the activities of LASEMA under Osanyintolu and ensure that no act of corruption, is buried under carpet.
Yours Sincerely,
Olufemi Lawson
ED Centre for Public Accountability CPA
