Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) will be the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) governorship candidate for Lagos in the 2011 general election, THEWILL can report.
Sources close to the ACN National Secretariat told THEWILL that all the issues, which pitched Mr. Fashola against some powerful interests in the rank of the party have been totally resolved.
But Deputy Governor, Princess Sarah Adebisi Sosan may not run as Mr. Fashola’s deputy as the current Commissioner for Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Mrs. Adejoke Orelope-Adefilure is being seriously considered for the position, checks revealed over the weekend.
We gathered that Mr. Fashola "is still making a case for Sosan on the ground that both have had a robust relationship short of conflict since 2007" when the Fashola administration came on board, a top ACN chieftain told our correspondent.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed confirmed to another source that Fashola has been given the governorship ticket as the ACN flagbearer for the 2011 Lagos guber race adding that the ACN primaries for the governorship ticket would just be a formality.
Commenting on the friction between Mr. Fashola and the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Adeyemi Ikuforiji, our source said the ACN leadership has also resolved the differences between both men. The resolution was responsible for the ‘top of the roof’ reception accorded Mr. Fashola during the presentation of the 2011 budget proposal at the House of Assembly.
After the budget presentation, Speaker Ikuforiji described Fashola as Governor of all governors, a comment, which elicited mass applause from a sophisticated gathering of party leaders, political stakeholders, lawmakers, investors and almost all members of the State Executive Council (SEC).
Ikuforiji also commended Fashola and his team for the achievements they had recorded in the past years, though he said the Assembly “considers budget a very important tool for nation-building, accelerated growth and rapid development, especially in the face of disaffection and discontentment everywhere.”
we also learnt that the friction between Fashola and Ikuforiji was settled on the eve of the state congress of the party, which was held penultimate Saturday, the day the supporters of the former were billed to stage a protest at the state secretariat of the party over what they described as irregularities in the ACN congresses.
Recall that the protest did not hold as earlier scheduled and no reason was given for the cancellation though security at the state party's secretariat was beefed.
But on the same day of the state congress, Fashola surprisingly arrived at the state secretariat of the party in the same Land Rover SUV with former Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who many believe was behind Fashola’s woes over disagreement on tax commission due Tinubu’s Alpha Beta, a revenue collection company contracted to collect taxes on behalf of the state government.
After a close-door meeting, the state party’s Chairman, Otunba Oladele Ajomale told journalists that there was no point changing a winning team, which was the first signal that the party had settled for Mr. Fashola as its choice.
Analysts have argued that the ACN will be defeated in the 2011 Lagos governorship election if the party dumps Mr. Fashola for another candidate following the friction between the Tinubu and governor.
Agitations have been mounted on Governor Babatunde Fashola to create a new state to be called Lagoon State out of Lagos State, South West Nigeria .
This time around, the agitation is coming from lawyers as they joined the leagues of prominent Lagosians championing the call for a new state to be created out of the state .
The Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Ikorodu Branch, said it has become necessary to create Lagoon State because many Lagosians were championing the cause.
Speaking at the 6th Annual Babatunde Olusola Benson Lecture to commemorate the branch’s 2010 Law Week held in Ikorodu yesterday, the Chairman, NBA, Ikorodu Branch, Prince Kazeem Adebanjo, said the move would bring about greater development, economic advancement and prosperity of Lagos State as a whole and the proposed Lagoon State in particular.
According to him, the Ikorodu NBA chapter would convene a special forum to discuss the possibility of the creation of Lagoon State , urging all stakeholders to give support to the agitation.
Also, the chairman decried the congestion of cases before the Lagos and Ibadan division of the Court of Appeal and called Fashola to fast track the creation of an additional Court of Appeal division in Ijebu-Ode or Ikorodu.
“There is need to arrest this trend by increasing the number of court rooms and/or panels to guarantee the appearance of more lawyers at the appellate courts as well as ensure speedy dispensation of justice at the appellate courts so that the efforts made at the High Courts to achieve quick conclusion of cases could be completed at the appellate court level”, he said.
Speaking at the event, Fashola did not comment about the agitation for the creation of Lagoon State, rather his speech, was anchored on taxation.
He advocated the need for voluntary tax payment, saying it is rooted in the essence of representative and good governance.
“Tax gives us the choice of the type of life we want to live”, he said, adding that it also helped government to fulfill its part of the Social Contract.
According to the governor, the landmark achievements credited to his administration across the state in the last three and a half years could not have been possible without the people fulfilling their own part of the social contract by paying their taxes as and when due.
Explaining the correlation between Politics and Law, Fashola said as the various political parties began to contest for power, all their engagements and processes being used by them were founded in law.
Also present at the occasion which took place at the Ikorodu Town Hall were President of the Appeal Court, Justice Isa Ayo Salami; his immediate predecessor, Justice Umar Farouk Abdullahi; Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice of Lagos State, Mr. Olasupo Sasore; the Ayangburen of Ikorodu, His Royal Majesty, Oba S.A.A. Oyefusi; and his wife, and the Chief Host, Chief Babatunde Olusola Benson, among others.
Highlight of the event was a lecture with the topic, “Taxation and Good Governance in a Developing Democracy”, given by Special Adviser to the Governor on Revenue and Taxation, Mr. Ade Ipaiye.
—Kazeem Ugbodaga
