The friends of former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu have denied a report credited to Sahara Reporters, an online news media, that the state and local government councils have been mandated to contribute N1 billion to fund Tinubu’s 60th birthday celebration.
At a press conference in Lagos yesterday, the chairman, Asiwaju at 60 Planning Committee, Sir Pius Akinyelure, described the report as blackmail. The online media had entitled it: ‘Lagos State To Cough Up N1 Billion To Fund Tinubu’s Birthday Celebration’
But Sir Akinyelure maintained that the programmes outlined by the planning committee could not gulp such a huge amount of money.
“I don’t know where such story emanated from and I think it is only a figment of someone’s imagination. We are not taking money from any local government chairman as it is being claimed by the online news report. Tinubu has done well in the corporate world and we feel we should celebrate him while he is still alive and not when he is dead,” he added.
Highlighting the programmes for the celebration, Akinyelure said: “We lined up a number of activities built around promoting good causes, such as free health checks and medical support for the sick, during which 12 children with a hole in the heart will benefit from Tinubu’s large heart.
“This is a true reflection of the way he has lived his life – investing his earnings to promote good causes and lift up the less privileged. In the next four days, there will be two visits to motherless babies’ homes and the Bethesda home for the blind in Yaba,” he stated.
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