Corruption Allegations Rock Lagos State Infrastructure Agency LASIMRA Under General Manager Oyekanmi

The leadership of the Lagos State Infrastructure Maintenance and Regulatory Agency (LASIMRA) has come under fire as mounting allegations of maladministration faced the agency’s General Manager, Oyekanmi Elegushi.

Insiders at the agency on Thursday told SaharaReporters that the manager, Elegushi allegedly ran LASIMRA like a “one-man show,” amid mismanagement of funds and intimidation of career officers.

They revealed to SaharaReporters that the once revenue-performing agency has been reduced to a shadow of itself, failing to meet its annual targets for two consecutive years — a stark departure “from its record of hitting those figures by the third quarter in previous administrations.”

The Lagos State House of Assembly recently summoned the agency’s management over its woeful performance and failure to meet revenue projections.

Despite being a revenue-generating agency, LASIMRA now reportedly struggles to fund its own operations.

“Abandoned and faulty operational vehicles litter our Ikeja headquarters. We the staff struggle to meet monitoring obligations across the state. Instead of taking responsibility, the GM allegedly shifts the blame for the agency’s poor performance onto Heads of Departments,” one of them said.

Also, allegations of financial impropriety have emerged at the agency.

Questions are being raised over the management of LASIMRA’s Reinstatement Account, with insiders accusing the manager of diverting funds to private accounts unrelated to the agency.

Elegushi has also been accused of sidelining other management staff in decision-making.

A recent trip to Europe for a training programme — meant for key officials of the agency — was allegedly undertaken by the GM with only a female aide, who, according to sources, is not a LASIMRA staff member.

“He is high-handed and misuses official privileges. Anyone who dares to ask questions about discrepancies in the agency’s finances or operations is victimised,” another LASIMRA staffer told SaharaReporters.

They noted further that career officers who reportedly challenged the GM’s leadership had been removed or redeployed.

Among them are; Engineer Wusu Adeniyi, a management staff, and a former Director of Administration, who were both transferred out of LASIMRA on the recommendation of the GM. Their alleged offence: questioning irregularities.

Civil society groups have now joined the call for accountability.

Richard Alimi, coordinator of the Coalition for Public Service Accountability, told SaharaReporters that LASIMRA’s collapse is symptomatic of the larger rot in public service appointments in Lagos State.

“Putting round pegs in square holes has always been the problem. When people are made to head key government institutions just in the name of political appointments, this is what happens,” Alimi said.

“Public service administration is the soul of government. As long as the right people are not assigned to manage the agencies and parastatals of government, the impact of government will always elude citizens. Only people with proven track records should get these appointments, not self-serving appointees loyal to political interests,” he added. (SaharaReporters)