The Lekki-Epe Concession

So the Lagos State government's bought-back the Lekki-Epe Concession.

The rumour mill is working overtime, alleging the sequence of events to be the following:

1. Lagos Government (controlled by Bola Tinubu) awards a concession to L.C.C. (allegedly part-owned by Tinubu).

2. L.C.C. (allegedly part-owned by Tinubu) awards contracts to Hitech (also allegedly part-owned by Tinubu)

3. L.C.C. runs into trouble financing continued construction. Citizens accuse L.C.C. of using public money to build the highway, while intending to charge the public high tolls for a road the public in effect already paid for.

4. Lagos Government (controlled by Bola Tinubu) bails out L.C.C. with state money (prompting speculation that the funds received from the buy-back are intended for building the All Progressives Congress into a juggernaut for the 2015 Elections.

Isn't Lagos State now just a richer version of Kwara State, with Tinubu's family playing the role of the Saraki Clan. Bola Tinubu has become a godfather or fixer, with a territory all his own, like the late Lamidi Adedibu of Ibadan, perhaps more sophisticated, and reliant on the state's economy (largest among Nigerian states) and budget (larger than some African countries, and not just the smaller ones), where Adedibu relied on his connection to Abuja.

I wonder about a situation where you propose legislation yourself, pass the legislation yourself, hand yourself the concession, give the contracts to yourself, regulate yourself, asssess yourself for whether the qualifty of yourself's construction work is meeting the contract requirements drawn up by yourself, audit yourself's accounts, decide yourself that the state govt should take over, propose the takeover legislation yourself, and then pass the legislation yourself. Not to mention that yourself adjudicates the legality of yourself's actions.

I have no doubt that some new infrastructure has been built along the way .... but I am curious as to how much more infrastructure could have been built without the fiscal leakages attendant upon an entire economy and government built around one man's interests and ambitions.