Fashola Makes A Case For Continuity, Says Lagos Needs Someone Who Understands Its System Of Governance

fashola ambode

Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola says the state was too big for beginners to experiment with, noting that Lagos needed “someone who already understands the system of governance in Lagos.”

The governor said this at the public presentation of Lagos State Development Plan, LSDP 2012-2025 held in Alausa Secretariat, Ikeja, which also had in attendance the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC in 2015 Lagos governorship election, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode.

Fashola said he was able to improve on the legacy left by the former governor, Bola Tinubu because he was already part of the government.

“I can reveal to you today, one of the things that helped me the first day I resumed office was that the day I arrived I knew the Head of Service, HoS and Permanent Secretary, PS by name and face. And I knew how the government worked because I was part of the team that made it work,” he said.

Speaking on the government’s development plan, Fashola noted that the state had commenced construction of several projects, that could only be completed by someone who understands the mode of governance in the state because the tenure of the present administration will end on May 29th, 2015. According to him, some of the projects include the 70 million gallon per day Adiyan Phase II Waterways and the ongoing light rail.

“And he (Ambode) was part of this development plan in the state. He helped to commence the plan because the plan started in his office when he was the Accountant-General of the state between 2007 and 2012. With this plan, it shows that this state is too important to be left in the hand of those who want to experiment with it. We must keep it in very safe hands.”

Commenting on declining oil prices, Fashola said that the state’s economy was not built on extractive (oil) resources, “but on very strong immigrant capital that make up the human resources of the state. Our development partners feel at home because they bring value to our table.

“Our megacity status indicates the reality of today that we are a large population. And we have turned the burden of large population to asset. And that was why we can say that whatever happens to oil today, we will survive.”

Fashola urged residents of the state to buy into the development plan as their own and work with the government to ensure its successful implementation.

Speaking earlier, Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Ben Akabueze, said the LSDP was borne out of the need to harness the various documents articulating the vision of Lagos as Africa‘s megacity.

“The purpose of the Development Plan is to provide overall direction for the growth and development of the state.

“It will provide a framework by which all sectors of the economy can direct their energies and contribute to the improvement of the quality of life people in the state. It will set the overarching long term framework for government`s planning and budget system”, he said.

By 2025, Lagos would have become a model city if the plan is successfully implemented, Akabueze noted.