13th January, 2015
By Ayo Oyoze Baje
As the two-horse race for the political jewel of Alausa Government House, Lagos, intensifies between the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), political pundits predict that it may be closer to call than during the previous elections of 2003, 2007 and 2011. The reasons are getting more obvious by the day. Prominent amongst these include the calibre of the candidates both parties are presenting to the public, the quality of their issue-based campaigns and of course, the interesting strategies deployed to woo the electorate. National attention is therefore, riveted on Lagos because it is a microcosm of Nigeria. Only the best is good for it.
While the APC has Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode as its standard bearer, the PDP comes in with Mr. Jimi Agbaje. The former, a tested and trusted top technocrat was at one time the state’s Accountant General, Permanent Secretary Ministry of Finance and Auditor-General for the Local Government Councils. He served meritoriously in those capacities for 27 years before resigning in 2012. On his part, the PDP candidate is a seasoned pharmacist regarded by his ardent admirers as a grassroots politician who had thrown his hat into the gubernatorial ring back in 2007 but lost out. This time around he wants to win it, with the support of his party and Lagos people. The parallels between the two are interesting. Both emerged as candidates in controversial circumstances during the recent respective parties’ primaries. While Ambode’s success was questioned by his co-contestants with regards to the delegates’ selection process, Agbaje’s surprise defeat of Senator Musiliu Obanikoro did not go down well with the latter. He instituted a law suit which was later withdrawn on the prompting of the PDP hierarchy and the promise that if the PDP wins the presidency, he would be a Minister again. The two are linked to political godfathers in the persons of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Chief Bode George respectively. Also, both are Christians in line with the clamour by most Lagosians for a paradigm shift.
The million-naira question is: who really has the winning edge? The answer swings in favour of Ambode. The power of incumbency is on his side. So far he has predicated his campaign strategy on the continuation of the legacy of leadership excellence as would be handed over by the outgoing APC Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN). To the teeming admirers of the BRF–led administration, ‘continuity’ rather than ‘change’ remains the campaign mantra. First, there has been an unprecedented turn-around in the state’s economy, which has witnessed an increase from an Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of N10 bn in 1999 to N400bn in 2014. That Lagos state funds its budgetary expenditures with as much as 75 per cent of this IGR remains a feat. Even the opposition including Agbaje admits this fact though they have questioned its impact on the quality of life of the citizenry. Yet,this has made it possible for the transformational projects in the key areas of the economy.
For instance, in the area of infrastructure Lagos boasts of the most modern road network,bridges and drainage systems in the country. Several schools have been upgraded. There is the 10-lane Lagos-Badagry Expressway and the Lekki Export Processing Zone. The effective waste management system has over 5,000 refuse trucks. The Operation Green Lagos is on with clean toilets and mitigation of the menace of floods assisted by the dredging of canals in such areas as Orile-Iganmu, Ajegunle and Ogba. The state has the most modern mobile sewage laboratory as the first of its kind in Africa. One of the popular sectors Lagos state remains a standard for others is the clean, orderly and affordable Bus Rapid Transport(BRT) system. But the PDP has raised some pertinent questions. Precisely on Sunday 4th January, 2015 Agbaje was in North London to present a speech entitled: ‘My Master Plan for a New Lagos’ to a select audience of party supporters drawn from the United Kingdom( UK), Europe and America. It focused on three key areas of Security, Education and Health. Simply put, he wishes to bring these to the doorstep of the less privileged members of the Lagos community. He has questioned what he terms the abnormal hike in fees paid by students of Lagos State University by as much as 1000 per cent only to be suddenly reversed for political reasons. He has frowned at the government’s clampdown on okada riders (motorcycle taxi operators. In addition, Agbaje claims that the collection of N1,000 from market women per day was not remitted and receipted. These are indeed meant to make his candidature appeal to people at the bottom of the societal ladder and the APC must find credible answers to them. The voters from this segment command some sizeable number.
Thought-provoking as these may appear they raise some crucial questions as Governor Fashola has had to explain at several media fora. Are the laws not meant to curtail the nefarious activities of okada riders and to save lives? Have they not maimed many and sent others to Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi? Were some of them not reportedly engaged in the nefarious activities of armed robbery and ritual murders? Those whose motor cycles were seized ran afoul of the law. Every responsible government’s policy is based on the rule of law.
Based on his wealth of experience as a Public Finance Management Expert and the CEO of Brandsmiths Consulting Limited Ambode cannot afford to fail. He gained recognition for outstanding excellence by the Joint Tax Board (JTB)/FIRS on the successful organization of the 1st National Tax Retreat in Nigeria in 2005. Now, history beckons on him to take the baton of leadership from Governor Fashola, sustain the culture of the Centre of Excellence and take Lagos to the next level. But first he and the APC must cross the PDP/Agbaje bridge. Can they? The answer lies in the hands of God and of course, the enlightened voters.
•Baje wrote from Lagos