Lagos Neighbourhood Safety Agency GM, Caught In Alleged Financial Misappropriation
Ifalade Ajasa, the general manager of the Lagos State Neighbourhood Safety Agency (LNSA), is currently enmeshed in allegations of abuse of office and financial misappropriation.
Stories have been told how LNSA, an agency established in 2016 by Akinwunmi Ambode and adequately funded by the state government to keep communities in the state safe, had often gone AWOL while street urchins and sundry criminal elements reigned supreme in the same neighbourhoods. This is, however, caused by the alleged bleating failure of the management of the agency to live up to its mandate.
LNSA was created to provide a second layer of policing in order to ensure that Lagos State and its communities are more secure.
In the LNSA’s official website, Prince Ajasa, is profiled glowingly as a consummate professional with a track record of service excellence, but the tenure of the Lagos prince has now become controversial, with some staff and Lagosians raising highbrows querying his management of the agency.
Sources investigation revealed that Ajasa has allegedly turned the agency into a one-man show, with the general manager deliberately demobilizing key staff members, while practically running the agency with his personal staff and sundry aides, as a private entity.
Several staff members of the agency, who spoke to the Press on condition of anonymity, lamented that every process from operations to procurement, being compromised, according to them, has become the norm.
“He has since sidelined directors of departments in the agency, including the director of administration, and uses his personal staff to perform statutory roles of core staff members,” one senior staff member who craved anonymity in order not be victimized said.
But that’s just one in a series of allegations against a man who took over the reigns of affairs of the agency some years back.
Since assuming office, Ajasa is said to have put an end to management meetings with other directors in the agency, against the Lagos State civil service rule, preferring to take decisions by himself to circumvent due process in procurement, recruitment and everything else.
Ajasa, for instance, is said to have personalised the agency’s on-going recruitment exercise. The advert publication for the recruitment, according to Lagos State Civil Service law, is supposed to be done by the public relations officer of the agency through the Ministry of Information or the Civil Service Commission, but he did the publication himself, in disregard for due process. Many of those who applied for the advertised roles confided in the witness that they never got email notifying them of the date for screening, which they alleged was a possible plot to sideline as many applicants to accommodate preferred candidates.
“I applied for the role, but no feedback till date,” said John Oloyede, “I’ve tried everything, gone to the agency’s Instagram page to complain, but nothing has changed.”
Indeed, the comment section of the agency’s Instagram page, is full of complaints by applicants who never got feedback after completing the application process.
Alleged Financial Misappropriation of the Agency’s Funds
Ajasa, who is said to be nursing a political ambition ahead of 2023 general elections, is also accused of misappropriating the bulk of the funds meant for running cost of departments of the agency.
For instance, the state government is said to provide about N3 million monthly as running cost for departments in the agency, but these departments are said to have been receiving paltry sums from this total, with the rest cornered.
“That’s not all,” one of the staff members who spoke to reliable said, “When a staff member writes a submission or request for funds and passes it through his office as required by law to the state government, against civil service rule, he removes the name of the staff who wrote the request and put his name as the one making the requests. And when the funds arrive, he diverts to other uses which the fund were not originally meant for.
For instance, N19.6 million was said to have been approved and released by the state government for the drilling of boreholes in the offices of the agency in the 57 local government areas and local council development areas (LCDAs), but no borehole was drilled.
Also, an approval was said to have been given to purchase 57 generators for each of the LGAs and LCDAs, but only some were bought some and this was done by him and not the procurement department.
“He is also alleged to have misappropriated funds meant for servicing operational, staff vehicles and other equipment in the agency,” said.
Scrapping of Functional Vehicles
On February 7, 2022, Mr Ajasa directed the disposal of 19 functional Toyota Hilux, two MG and one Ford Ranger worth millions of naira as scraps, documents seen by THE WITNESS revealed.
LNSA staffers aware of the sale said many of the vehicles were still serviceable at the time they were sold as scraps.
“He has sold many of the agency’s functional vehicles as scraps without replacing them, thereby immobilizing key members of staff.”
