The crisis between the management of a consulting firm, Alpha Beta, and a former managing director of the company, Mr Oladapo Apara, has got messier with each party accusing the other of multi-billion naira sleaze.

Apara had dragged the company; a former governor of Lagos State, Senator Bola Tinubu and the current managing director of the firm, Mr Akin Doherty, before a Lagos State High Court.

The former Alpha Beta boss alleged, among other things, that Tinubu ordered billions of naira transferred from the company’s account to other entities.

He also said that since his “illegal removal” as the Managing Director, he had been denied of his dividends as a founding partner of the company and asked the court to order full payment of his entitlements.

In the writ of summons, Apara asked the respondents to appear within 42 days or have judgment delivered in their absence.

But the current management of the company, in a reaction, denied any formal knowledge of the court summons and then accused Apara of turning to blackmail after he was removed as the head of the company “for unethical practices.”

In a statement, the current managing director of the firm, Mr Doherty, said, “We have seen the allegations circulating on social media as well as the online reports of the court summons of which we are yet unaware.”

Doherty alleged that while Apara was Managing Director, he spent $5 million to pay for cloud-based services which, he said, were eventually discovered to be worth less than $300,000.

He added that Apara was removed as the head of the company over other infractions.

He said: “Mr Apara, who was a signatory to all the bank accounts of Alpha Beta from inception until his removal, received all his payments and entitlements until June 2018 when he was removed.”

“Specifically in response to the court summons now circulating on social media, we would like to state as follows:

“Contrary to the sensational headlines, designed to embarrass and blackmail, the case presented by Mr Apara does not disclose even a single piece of evidence of fraud or criminal activity on the part of any of the alleged defendants.

The case brought by Mr Apara is, simply put, an extension of his campaign of calumny; launched to avoid the consequences of his conduct over the years.

“The uncorroborated allegations against Asiwaju Bola Tinubu by Dapo Apara, in particular, show that he is bent only on creating sensational headlines to deflect attention from his activities.

“Although, we have not been served with the court summons, we look forward to the opportunity the case provides to publicly present the full picture of Mr Apara’s misconduct and to have the matter resolved by the court once and for all.”

But in his statement of claim, Apara also mentioned how Alpha Beta was formed in 2002 during Tinubu’s tenure as governor of Lagos State.

He claimed he was the one who mooted the idea of forming a consulting firm to help the state government to track and reconcile taxes.

Apara said Tinubu accepted the proposal but gave many conditions including that his own people would own 70 per cent stakes in the company.

He stated, “The claimant avers that following the presentation of his proposal to the Lagos State Government, the 2nd defendant (Tinubu), who was at the time the governor of Lagos State, demanded that 70 per cent equity interest in the project be assigned to a certain Olumide Ogunmola before the 2nd defendant will approve the project.

“The claimant avers that he then met the said Olumide Ogunmola (who he had never met before) and it was agreed that a limited liability company be incorporated in which the claimant will hold 30 per cent shares while Olumide Ogunmola and his partners will hold 70 per cent of the shares of the company.

“The claimant avers that following the agreement alluded to above, Alpha Beta Consulting Limited was incorporated in 2002 with the following shareholders: Dapo Apara (30 per cent), Olumide Ogunmola (40 per cent) and Adegboyega Oyetola (30 per cent).”

He said Tinubu later directed that Oyetola’s shares be transferred to one Tunde Badejo.

Apara stated that Tinubu controlled the company which was receiving 10 per cent of tax collected on behalf of the state.

He said due to the technological innovation that was deployed by him, the Internally Generated Revenue of the state grew from N10bn per annum in 2002 to N300bn in 2019.

The claimant stated that in 2010 or thereabout, Tinubu directed that the incorporation structure of the Alpha-Beta Consulting Limited be changed from a limited liability company to a limited liability partnership under a newly promulgated law in Lagos State.

He said the aim of the move was to shield Tinubu’s involvement from public scrutiny.

He said Olumide Ogunmola was named the managing partner of the newly transformed company, while he (Apara) became deputy managing partner.

The claimant said in 2014, Tinubu asked Ogunmola to step aside while he was named managing partner.

Apara said as the head of the company, he began looking into its finances and he made many startling discoveries such as strange transfers of over N20 billion to various companies. (Saturday Tribune)

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