Eniola Akinkuotu
The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Lagos State, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, has challenged the All Progressives Congress-led government in the state to domesticate the Freedom of Information Act which was signed into law by President Goodluck Jonathan in 2011.
Agbaje said this in a Facebook post on Thursday.
The PDP candidate argued that the finances and the running of the affairs of the state were deliberately made opaque so that a godfather would continue to have his way.
He, therefore, stated that there was a need to free Lagos from the shackles of slavery.
Agbaje said, “The ruling party has accused us of negative campaigning because we have dared to challenge their record especially as it pertains to the transparency and openness of government.
“Lagos’ failure to domesticate the Freedom of Information Act has kept the people in the dark for way too long on how this states’ affairs are conducted but today we are ‘woke’.
“Lagosians want a government that would prioritize their needs over the dictates of one man in every single circumstance – housing, healthcare, jobs, opportunities for the youth etc. I know this because I hear it everywhere I go.
“People are tired of the secrecy. They are tired of the tyranny. And to belittle this is to underestimate the resolve of Lagosians to bring about a new order in Lagos in this election. To them, as it stands today, Lagos is not free.”
The PDP candidate wondered how the APC in Lagos could promise a better life for the people when trucks and trailers had been parked on the side of major roads thereby causing untold hardship for motorists.
He said the APC, through high and superfluous taxes like toll fees, had made the cost of transportation high and made life harder for the people.
Agbaje added, “Our vision to #setlagosfree is not a trend or a fad, it is real and it has started a groundswell of men and women across this state who are determined to live in a Lagos that is free from the control of overlords.
“It is real for people like Abdul, a young man that I met who works as a security guard for an office leasing company in Ikoyi. Abdul earns a little over N45,000 a month of which 60 per cent of that income goes into transporting himself to work every day. Get this: That number was actually around 44 per cent before the hike in the toll on the Lekki-Epe Expressway. For him, Lagos is not working.
“It is real for people like Bisola, a young mother of two, who lives on the Surulere-axis and has to contend with trucks that are parked recklessly on major roads and side streets – even on weekends – despite several complaints from her residential association. For her, Lagos is not listening.”
Punch
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