12th January, 2015
Jethro Ibileke/Benin
Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, has described as irresponsible, the Federal Government’s inability to properly account for the nation’s oil revenue.
Fashola who speaking over the weekend at the commissioning of the 8.5 kilometre Amedokhian-Ugboha road as part of projects commission to mark the 6th anniversary of the government of Edo state governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, said no money should have been missing from the coffers of a responsible government.
“We have a national government that is unable to account for money from crude oil that they did not extract; it is the white people that is extracting it for them. The price is fixed internationally, the quantity is known, just to add up and tally. They say it is $20 billion that is missing, some say $10 billion. Should one dollar have been missing in any responsible government? So that is why corruption and accountability is an issue in the next election.”
On the 8.5km Amedokhian-Ugboha road built by the Oshiomhole administration, Fashola said: “If a government at the state level that collects one over 96 per cent, because what the state gets is that the 36 states and Abuja share nine per cent of the total revenue, and they can do this kind of roads and all the red roofs that I have seen, imagine what will happen if you have a president and vice president that cares.”
He said further that “The story of this road is the celebration of a community that has put its votes in support of a party that used to be the party in opposition. A community that has renewed its social contract to depart from a party that has deceived them and embrace change; a community that has seen what change is if people vote right.
“This road will benefit the pedestrians, it will benefit the car owners, it will benefit the motorcyclist, it will benefit the farmers and market women. This is the economy of development. This road facilitates transport, it facilitates trade, it facilitates health care delivery and this really is the heart of democracy.
“Government that builds roads does not build roads simply because they want to build roads. They are governments that understand that a community or society cannot be bigger than its infrastructure and the wider the roads the bigger the prosperity that comes to that community.
On his part, Governor Adams Oshiomhole, who said Nigerians must vote out the PDP for failing to provide electricity after 16 years, stressed the need for the people to vote for the APC at all levels as the PDP has failed to provide the basic facilities needed by the people.
“I need you to connect with this election. There are no miracles in development. It is about planning, it is about commitment, it is about honesty it is about judicious application of resources. PDP’s only resolve is to steal. Sixteen years of PDP, Nigerians have no water, no light they are still using generators. In the name of privatisation they handed over electricity in Edo to their friends; they are collecting money from you without light.”
Oshiomhole said “the elections are around the corner we must elect the House of Assembly that will support the appropriation of funds to continue with any of the jobs that we will not be able to do. That is why this coming election is very important.
“The import of electing responsible people to the House of Assembly should not be lost on you. There are people who are there only for money. They will ask the governor to bring the money to share rather than build roads, our people need to understand that. Understand that membership of the House of Assembly is not a small job.
“The other party, the PDP, over the years found that election rigging is easier in communities that are not accessible. So they benefit from their own criminal neglect of providing infrastructure particularly access roads to rural communities. I am a believer of even development and for me central to rural development and to consign poverty to history, it is important we invest in rural infrastructure particularly road network.”