The Chairman of the Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, Alhaji Tunde Balogun, has opened up on the real reason the former state Gove
The Chairman of the Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, Alhaji Tunde Balogun, has opened up on the real reason the former state Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode was denied a second term ticket. According to the APC chairman, in an interview with Punch, “The APC as a party started from Alliance for Democracy. From AD, when Asiwaju Tinubu was the governor, we had a 10-point agenda for the development of the state.
“These areas touch on transportation, health, education, security, and others. When he (Tinubu) was there, he did a lot in the area of transportation, health, and the environment before he left office after eight years. Babatunde Fashola took over and followed the same programme to the letter and you found development all over the place. When Fashola sought re-election, he won with a very large margin because of his performance.
“When Ambode took over, at the beginning, he was adhering to the programme of the party but after some time, he deviated. That singular mistake cost him his second term. The people of Lagos were disenchanted with the performance of his government.”
Continuing, he said, “In the area of environment, Lagos was taken over by dirt, maybe you have forgotten because it is so easy to forget. In the areas of roads, there were potholes and the major road projects embarked upon by Fashola were abandoned. These were not part of our dreams and vision for Lagos. We plan to have very good management of wastes and complete projects. We did not plan to have abandoned projects and potholes everywhere. We could not wait to look at that kind of thing that was why we took the necessary step to ensure that our programmes for the improvement of Lagos and making life better for the people are strictly followed.
“That was what cost him the second term that he wanted. Some of the projects Fashola embarked on were the railway and the express road from Mile 2 to Badagry. Ambode abandoned them. We also had conspicuous housing projects, one in Ilubirin that he abandoned while the waste management system was run aground. As a party, we have to be responsive to what the people want otherwise we would become a failure. Along the line, another brilliant man, Babajide Sanwo-Olu showed interest and of course, the whole party embraced him.
“He won the primaries and he is the governor now. You can see that he has started righting the wrongs. He has started addressing the road and engaging the traffic gridlock frontally at the different points in Lagos, while waste management is getting better. Abandoned projects are now being kick-started. Once you have a programme, follow the letter because Lagosians cannot be wrong.”
Also clearing the air on the former Governor’s invitation by the state House of Assembly to appear before it over allegations of corruption, as against the general belief that it is a move to disgrace the former governor, the state chairman said, “The House of Assembly has simply invited the former governor to get issues sorted out. It is part of efforts to clear the air on some allegations. We are operating under a constitution and if you do anything while in office, you must have the constitutional backing for your actions.
“In whatever we do, we want to ensure that we do not fall foul of the law as a party. We also want to ensure that we do not create acrimony and unnecessary conflict amongst our members. So, we are working to ensure that everything is being done to clear the air.”
