1st November, 2016
Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State on Tuesday appealed to the Senate to revisit the bill seeking one per cent allocation to Lagos from the revenue accruing to the Federal Government.
Ambode, who made the appeal when he received members of the Senate Committee on Marine Transport in his office at the Lagos House, Ikeja, said that the passage of the bill would translate into economic prosperity and well-being of Nigerians.
The Senate Committee was in Lagos to perform oversight functions on federal institutions.
Ambode said Lagos, being a cosmopolitan and the economic capital of Nigeria, should be assisted by the Federal Government to address the infrastructure challenges confronting it.
According to him, considering the fact that Lagos used to be the capital of Nigeria and is home to every tribe in the country, the passage of the bill by Senators should be viewed from the point of its importance to the country and not just to Lagos.
“Come December 12, it will be 25 years that the capital of Nigeria was moved from Lagos to Abuja. So, 25 years after, this is where we are.
“I like to use this platform firstly to say a big thank you to the Senate President and the Deputy Senate President for allowing us to table our one per cent special status bill.
“We struggled to put that up in the seventh Assembly, it was not done. But, it was through this eight Assembly that it was actually tabled, and so, we thank them for that.
“If we have about twelve Senators here and we are looking for two-third, we are saying here that it would not be out of place to revisit our appeal and our bill”.
According to Ambode, Lagos is thoroughly cosmopolitan; it is a mini-Nigeria and the well-being of Lagos is the total well-being of Nigeria and everybody has a stake here in Lagos.
“As a government, we have continually addressed the cosmopolitan nature of Lagos in a way that is suitable and comfortable for all Nigerians irrespective of tribe, creed or religion,” he said.
The governor said that Lagos would have achieved a lot in 25 years if the one per cent special status allocation had been granted.
“So, we want you to try and help us to have a re-look, a re-think and then think more of Nigeria in the bill rather than of Lagos because that is what that one per cent assistance will address,” he said.
Ambode, who described the visit by the members of the Senate Committee as timely, said it came just after he had a fruitful discussion in Denmark on the development of the 2.6billion dollars Badagry Deep Sea Port, aside the ongoing Lekki Port.
He said that it was a pointer to the fact that there was convergence of visions and missions to grow Nigeria’s economy.
He also justified the development of additional ports in Lagos, as only the Apapa Port could not meet the demand of commerce and expansion required by the State, and therefore, solicited the support of the Senate in that regard.
“The real estate around Apapa Port have actually overtaken the activities of marine business there, and we like to use this opportunity to appeal to the Federal Ministry of Works to assist the haulage business in the Apapa area,” Ambode said.
Earlier, Chairman of the Senate Committee, Alhaji Sanni Yerima commended Ambode for the massive development going on in the Lekki area of the state, especially the Lekki Deep Sea Port situated at the Lekki Free Trade Zone.
Yerima said that the Senate would support anything that has to do with Lagos being a ‘small Nigeria’.
He promised that the Senate would reconsider the one per cent Special Status appeal for Lagos State as the former capital and commercial nerve centre of the Country.