9th April, 2015
By Mac Durugbo
In the run up to the coming Governorship and House of Assembly Elections billed for next Saturday nationwide, all eyes seem to be on Lagos, especially given the voting pattern in the state in the last Presidential election and the anxiety it has raised in the last few weeks across the state. But the issue in Lagos today is clearly that of whether there should be continuity or there is need for change of government. This must be understood by all and sundry and what should be done, even at this critical time, by those who feel genuinely that there should be continuity or a change is to try, by persuasion and conviction, to win the electorate to either side. That is democracy. It must be understood that choices are sometimes made out of ignorance or wrong belief. That is why there is need for persuasion and conviction in the process of winning to one’s side those who are opposed to one’s views.
Having said that, it is expedient to say here that as we go into the next and final stage of the elections there is need for Nigerians to take a second look at those beliefs and convictions that dictated their choice in the last election in order to know whether or not they still apply to the coming elections. The case of Lagos, as stated earlier, is whether there should be continuity in governance or a change. In arriving at this decision, it is also important that the people should have a rethink about the essence of elections. The truth is that no matter how well the intention a politician has towards his country or people, his actions or inactions are principally governed by those whom he chooses to work or associate with. This reality cannot be truer in any other situation than in politics. The out-going President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, provides a typical example. No matter what Nigerians thought of him or were made to think about him by his associates, he demonstrated that he has very good intentions towards Nigeria by the statesmanship he showed at the last election. It is very clear today that, perhaps, it had not been his intention to postpone the general elections nor had he any plan at any time to remove the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Atahiru Jega. But his spokesmen (and they were numerous and, to say the least, uncoordinated and uncontrollable) made Nigerians believe that it was his plan. But that is the way of politicians.
In the run up to the Governorship and House of Assembly elections next Saturday, therefore, there is a need for the Nigerian electorate make the right choice concerning the issue at state. The critical question here is, should there be continuity in governance or is there need for change in Lagos? This is the essence of this piece. Without any bias, I want to argue that there should be continuity here. My reasons, which are, by no means, exhausted here, include the fact that this state is the financial and business capital of Nigeria. In the last 16 years, the Progressives party has laboured single-handedly to build it up to a befitting mega city which foreign diplomats, heads of government and trade missions across the globe have consistently adjudged liveable and business friendly. Lagos has become a mini-Nigeria where all Nigerians, irrespective of tribe, tongue or religion, have found a home to live and fulfil their God-given destiny. The PDP-controlled Federal Government has not only denied it the constitutional right of being treated as former federal capital territory as is done in other climes, but has failed to maintain the infrastructure left behind when the capital was moved to Abuja or to refund the money spent by the State Government to maintain these infrastructure. Allowing PDP take over this state, therefore, would tantamount to letting the “hawks” feed where they failed to sow.
Secondly, as a result of the hard work of the progressive leadership in this state in the last 16 years, many policies aimed at uplifting the lives of the people have been promulgated and are being implemented over the years. These policies have translated into contractual partnerships and concessions whose full realisation can only be assured by those who put them in place. It is no gainsaying that in the last eight years, especially, such policy as the Public Private Partnership (PPP), has yielded concessions and partnerships that have transformed this state into a world class city. It has, for example resulted in the expansion of the Lekki-Etiosa-Epe Expressway into a world class highway, the expansion of the trans-national Badagry-Lagos Expressway, complete with a dedicated lane for rapid transit buses and a light rail that terminates at the Marina in Central Lagos and a Free Trade Zone that has opened the way to trillion dollar investments such as an airport, a seaport and a refinery. It has also yielded the Eko Atlantic City Project, the State Security Trust Fund that has brought down crime and criminality to near zero in this city and the Independent Power Projects (IPPs) that have given Lagos 24-hour street lights and electricity in sensitive government establishments such as hospitals, schools, courts and Information and Communication Technology Centres, among others. The completion of these investments, some of which are under special contractual arrangements with foreign investors, can only be guaranteed by those who contracted them. These foreign investors came as a result of the economic stability of the state. They have invested their money because they have the confidence that the government they are dealing with will not default in the contractual agreements. I will give an insight into the level of economic stability of this state. In 2003, the State Government under Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu floated a bond of N25 billion to finance projects in the state. It was the beginning of the pragmatic economic move to transform this city. The bond was not only oversubscribed but was fully paid by the succeeding government. In 2008, the incumbent Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, again went to the public to borrow N275 billion in tranches of N50 billion, for the same purpose. To provide for this debt to be serviced and repaid from its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), the administration put in place a 10-year business plan and a legal backing to the process through the Lagos State Bonds Law 2008 and the Lagos State Debt Office Law 2008, which provide, among other things, that 15 percent of the State’s IGR is set aside monthly into a Debt Service Account in addition to the Irrevocable Standing Payment Order (ISPO). This arrangement has ensured that the bond was fully paid as at due dates. As a matter of fact, the fund to repay the remaining N50 billion bond which will mature by 2017, is already in the kitty with about N69 billion saved from the monthly 15 per cent revenue from the State’s IGR. These are arrangements that need to be handled by those who know about and have been part of the process.
Thirdly, the ruling PDP has shown more than a passing interest in the growing prominence of Lagos. From the activities of the government and the body language of some prominent leaders of the PDP, it is obvious that any chance to exercise authority over this state would be disastrous. Some of the PDP leaders, especially those of the Southwest, seem they could not wait to have such a chance in order to settle personal scores. While not naming names here, some of their activities, which have gained prominence especially in the last few years, have directly and indirectly created anxieties and caused impediments to the good governance of the state. Take the direct challenge to the legal institutions like the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) by the questionable black uniformed men posted at the Old Lagos-Ibadan Expressway Tollgate as Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) taskforce to control of traffic on Lagos roads for example. There have been near clashes between the two agencies but for the good sense and maturity displayed each time by men of LASTMA. But for the forewarnings by the State Government, they would, most probably have been used during the elections to cause disquiet in the state. It could also be recalled that the issue of the creation of 37 additional Local Council Development Areas in the state brought the hammer of the PDP-led Federal Government on the state stopping the allocation to Local Governments from the Federation Account even after the courts ordered the release of the statutory allocation. Lagos traditional rulers had to petition President Umaru Musa Yar’adua (now deceased) over the issue as well as the sale of Federal Government properties in the state by the Federal Government. The Royal Fathers, in the petition signed by the Chairman, Lagos State Council of Obas and Chiefs and the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, and four other traditional rulers, also requested President Yar’Adua to reverse the concessioning of the Apapa and Tin Can Island ports, saying the Federal Government concessioned the ports without consideration for Lagosians who historically own them and earned their revenue through fishing on the waterways long before the Europeans came to Lagos.
As for the PDP Governorship Candidate, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, he has always been opposed to the programmes of the State Government. In 2008, just before the launch of the first 126 high capacity buses in the fleet of the first ever Bus Rapid Transit programme in the State, the then governorship candidate of the Democratic Peoples Alliance (DPA), condemned the project, saying the buses were refurbished, an allegation which the then State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Barrister Opeyemi Bamidele, described as an unfortunate and deliberate false information meant to discredit and sabotage the BRT scheme. He has also threatened to cancel contracts entered into by the present administration and lift the restriction placed on operations of commercial motorcyclists in the state if voter into power.
These are, by no means, the only reasons not to allow PDP into Lagos. But time and space have constrained me from citing other reasons. However, be it known that this state has been able to attain the globally accepted standards principally because it is the only state which PDP has not administered since the return of democracy in the country. That, in itself, is a warning indication that any chance given to the party in this state will be disastrous. So Lagos voters, if you like what has been achieved so far with your tax, if you like the good governance couched in the rule of law which you have enjoyed over the years, vote for CONTINUITY come Saturday, April 11, 2015.
•Durugbo is a political analyst/commentator based in Lagos.