Governorship aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Babatunde Gbadamasi, has accused the Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola of implementing policies aimed more at impoverishing the people of the State than better
their lives. The aspirant, who is a real estate professional, accused the Governor of embarking on cheap publicity adding that he had not done much for the State apart milking the people to death. Gbadamasi, in an interview with Huhuonline.com correspondent, said with N18 billion generated monthly as revenue from the State and another N4 billion from the Federal Government, the Governor had no excuse for failing the people. “Now, my position is: with N18 billion IGR per month, with N4 billion per month federal allocation, there is a responsibility on the government to provide services. ..
“There is one argument put up by him and members of his executive and that is that there is so much pressure on the infrastructure of the State because of the huge population, but do you know that in other places this population would be regarded as an added advantage, because it means more people that are able to pay taxes once you can sort out the infrastructure and social services problem? These people are all milking us to death,” he said. Continuing with the accusation, he said: “If you want apply for physical planning permission today, apart from the physical planning fee you pay, there is a whole number of other fees you are forced to pay.
“In some cases, by the time you are through, you would have paid about three times the actual amount you paid for your plot of land. There is the infrastructure development charge, which is an undefined charge added arbitrarily in an ad hoc manner without a formula for its calculation. “Somebody just decides depending on how his mood takes him for that day and he says go and pay such amount to the State. It is clear that these people do not know their left from their right. They do not know what they are doing.
“We were in this State when Jakande was the governor, we were in this state when Mudashiru was governor, we were in this state when Mobolaji Johnson was governor and we saw how government ought to be run. It is not been run like that and this is supposed to be democracy.
“Tejuosho Market was deliberately burnt down by some people, in my opinion, who are keen to profit from other people’s calamity and we now see that they have built a massive edifice in its place and they are quoting unbelievable amount of money for the rent or sale of the shop, which they know the former residents could not afford.”
The PDP aspirant accused the State governor of hiding something from the people by not disclosing how it has spent money over the years. The government of Fashola is actually known for its secrecy on government spending. Gbadamasi explained that in the last 12 years, Lagosians have been in bondage and held hostage by a group of people and now need to be liberated by an opposition.
“Our roads in Lagos are in a parlous state. They are in a pathetic state and the reason is that the current governor has become so comfortable as the incumbent that he has decided that he has no responsibility to the people any more.
“He thinks he does not have to fix the roads and the drains or provide education and health care services to the people. All he needs to do is force people to paint their buildings and everybody would clap and say ‘hosanna, the governor has come. “Today in Lagos State , we are spending over 50 per cent of our lives in traffic daily. How can this augur well for trade? Despite all the noise in the media, I make bold to say the few roads that are motorable in the State today are federal roads.
You might want to criticize the fact that the Federal Government would not come all the way from Abuja to repair roads, but don’t forget that the federal government has given all authority to the State Governments to go ahead and repair federal roads in their domain and then go ahead to seek compensation which would be promptly paid. He tasked the people of the State to ensure the governor’s re-election bid is frustrated.
Comments