A House of Representatives member, Hon James Faleke, who represents the Ikeja Federal Constituency of Lagos State, has reportedly used the Federal Cooperative College in Kaduna to purchase luxury vehicles worth over N230 million for traditional rulers in his constituency.
SaharaReporters has uncovered these transactions through an in-depth review of financial records available on the Govspend portal.The financial data reveals that between August and December 2023, the Federal Cooperative College in Kaduna disbursed N230 million to acquire SUVs and other luxury cars for the traditional rulers in the Ikeja Federal Constituency. The transactions began on August 15, 2023, when Joydrill Integrated Services Limited received a contract worth N108.6 million for supplying these vehicles. Another contract was awarded to Talu Tandu Nigeria Limited on August 16, 2023, with a payment of N8.5 million for the same purpose. The spending spree continued in December, with a significant payment of N108.6 million made to Joydrill Integrated Services Limited on December 18, followed by an additional N5.8 million allocated on December 16 to Elon Construction Limited, also for the supply of vehicles to Ikeja’s traditional rulers.
The fact that the Federal Cooperative College, based in Kaduna, was responsible for these expenditures raises questions about the nature of the relationship between Faleke and Joydrill Integrated Services Limited, the primary beneficiary of these contracts. Faleke serves as both the representative of the Ikeja Federal Constituency and the chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, giving him considerable influence.
The traditional rulers who received these luxury SUVs hail from the Ikeja Federal Constituency, which Faleke represents in the House of Representatives. Prior to this report, Tracka, an organization that monitors public contracts, had already flagged Faleke for awarding a contract to Joydrill Integrated Services Limited for installing solar lights in Ikeja. Tracka’s investigation revealed that Faleke misleadingly presented the project as a personal donation, with several installed solar lights found to be non-functional.
Further investigation has revealed a deeper connection between Joydrill Integrated Services and Faleke’s constituency projects. The same company involved in the controversial solar light installation in Ikeja was also contracted to supply luxury SUVs to traditional rulers within the constituency.
Ahmed Usman, a spokesperson for the Federal Cooperative College in Kaduna, confirmed that Faleke used the college’s name to carry out the SUV procurement as a constituency project. “Yes, it was carried out by Honorable Faleke using the school. It was executed as a constituency project by him,” he told SaharaReporters, adding that pictures of the vehicles are kept at the college.
Despite Faleke’s publicized distribution of vehicles to traditional rulers in February 2024, questions linger about the origin and funding of these gifts. It remains unclear if the vehicles distributed are the same ones purchased with N230 million through the Federal Cooperative College.
Legal expert Festus Ogun told SaharaReporters that while Nigerian law permits lawmakers to execute constituency projects through various agencies, purchasing SUVs for traditional rulers does not benefit the people, which is the primary purpose of such projects. “Buying vehicles for traditional rulers is a gross abuse of the law as it doesn’t benefit the people,” he said.
Segun Elemo, Executive Director of Paradigm Leadership Initiative, noted that while the procurement of vehicles might not be illegal if budgeted for, it raises ethical concerns. “The issue is why he would buy vehicles with such money when people are hungry; it is a moral issue,” Elemo told SaharaReporters.
Attempts to get a response from Faleke regarding his involvement in these contracts were unsuccessful. Repeated messages to his official contact remained unanswered at the time of reporting. Additionally, Joydrill Integrated Services, the company that received the contract, could not be reached for comment due to their minimal online presence and lack of accessible contact information.
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