From the office of the Lagos
Gubernatorial candidate for the PDP,
Jimi Agbaje. Read below...
Dear People of Lagos, you've
probably heard the new rhetoric
that the APCs spin-masters have
been
spewing out in the last
couple of days stating that if
Lagos is in the opposition, the
Federal Government will deny
Lagos a lot of benefits. Just
yesterday, a few well meaning
Lagosians had sent us Facebook
and SMS messages asking for my
take on this issue so I've
decided to speak up.
First, I wonder about the
soundness of this argument
especially after listening to
President-elect General Buhari's
acceptance speech where he
clearly stated " There shall no
longer be a ruling party again...
We shall never rule over the
people as if they were
subservient to government".
This basically spoke to our better-angels
as a people and our sense of community
as Nigerians. If so, then where's the
logic in the argument? Is APC LAGOS by
the nature of this "aligning Lagos to the
center" statement, now inferring that
General Buhari intends to run a
vindictive, partial or insensitive
government? Well, that's not for me to
answer and it's clearly not the focus of
this piece.
What I know, however, is that Lagos has
always made progress in spite of being
in the opposition and right now it will
be to the benefit of democracy and the
whole country to have a watchful police,
as opposed to both power houses -
Lagos & Abuja concentrated in one
party. In fact, if my memory of history
serves me well, Lagos and the FG have
never been in the same party. Our
development as a state is as a result of
our ingenuity, tenacity and drive as a
people. And it's clear that Lagosians can
see through this total botch of logic.
During late Pa' Awo's time, the Action
Group led Lagos while the NCNC led the
FG. In 1979 up until 1983, LK Jakande's
achievements were under UPN even
though President Shagari was in NPN. In
1992 Governor Otedola was NRC and
SDP led the FG before the JUNE 12
annulment. In 1999 Tinubu was AD, FG
was PDP. In 2007-2011, his excellency,
Governor Fashola was AC/ACN/APC
while the FG led by Yar’Adua was PDP.
Under Yar’Adua, the FG released
withheld funds to Lagos that had been
blocked by his predecessor despite
being in opposing parties with Governor
Fashola. You see, our edge as a state
has always being about our collective
ability to stay ahead of the curve with
our without favour from the FG.
That said, it's important that we put in
context what is really happening in
Nigeria. The yearning for change that
has clearly swept this nation is one that
supersedes any one man, political party,
tribe or religion. Put simply, it is a
statement against the status-quo. A
clarion call by the people for leaders
who will put the peoples interests first
before aggrandisement and petty
bickering that seems to have become
the norm in politics. To politicians,
leaders and people in position of
authority including myself, it is a call
that we cannot stand against. It's one
that we must all comply with to ensure
that we build a better society and a
greater Nigeria.
Now given that our message of
transforming governance in Lagos to
ensure that we cater not only to few
elites but the generality of the greater
good of the people of Lagos is
resonating with Lagosians - both
indigenes and non-indigenes alike, one
can only expect the opposition to throw
everything including the kitchen sink. It
is clear that arguments of this sort are
only the rumblings of a small group of
people determined to hold on to power
at all costs in Lagos. Even on the
streets, one can clearly see the
destruction of our adverstising material
from the Third Mainland Bridge right
down to Ikoyi; it's been fatal. But I dare
say that the handwriting is on the wall.
The people of Lagos, in this election are
determined to CHANGE the status-quo
and they will do everything in their
power to protect and guard their votes.
As we approach the end of this tightly
contested election race in Lagos, I'll
encourage voters to be careful about
what I call last-minute divisive tactics
which, again is to be expected at a time
such as this. My opponent will keep on
making insinuations and attempt to pre-
empt how I will govern rather than
share with us his own unique take on
how he intends govern. It is political
silly season, I get it. But at the end of
day, the result speaks for itself and the
people are wiser now.
I pride myself on the fact that we've
run a pretty robust, disciplined and
inclusive campaign where people from
all works of life have supported our
efforts - technocrats, party members,
non-party members, youth volunteers,
indigenes and non-indigenes alike.
We've led by example and remained
honourable even in the face of
intimidation. We've highlighted bold
plans that will enhance the
contributions of our youth, artisans and
civil service to society. We've laid out
potentially path-breaking reform plans
to curb corruption in government by
leveraging web technology that will
make not just help voters to track
government procurement (as we
currently have) but also government
spending and expenditure thereby
making the process transparent so that
we can hold our leaders within the
public service accountable. We have not
shied away from debating major issues
and presenting our ideas on how we
intend to expand this economy and
ensure that ordinary Lagosians are not
over-burdened by the weight of unfair
taxes. We have campaigned on ideas
not propaganda and provided Lagosians
with an insight to what real change
looks like.
Our moment is now. And yes, we can
have a government free of nepotism.
We can have a government where we
curb corruption and nepotism and
extend the prosperity of this state to
include ordinary people. We can have a
Lagos that does not discriminate on the
basis of gender, religion or belief. We
can have a Lagos for you - A Lagos for
all of us.
That said, we cannot go to sleep and be
under any illusions that this will come
easy. We will need to fight for it. I am
calling on all people to defend our voiceas a people come April 11th. Stand at the polling units, monitor the polling officers, request for the number of accredited voters BEFORE you return to vote. Democracy must prevail in our great state, defend your votes, defend the polling units, protect Democracy. It will be my honour to serve as your Governor - a man capable of making his own decisions as I have always done in the past. Quite frankly, I'm not sure anyone can say the same of my opponent
Gubernatorial candidate for the PDP,
Jimi Agbaje. Read below...
Dear People of Lagos, you've
probably heard the new rhetoric
that the APCs spin-masters have
been
spewing out in the last
couple of days stating that if
Lagos is in the opposition, the
Federal Government will deny
Lagos a lot of benefits. Just
yesterday, a few well meaning
Lagosians had sent us Facebook
and SMS messages asking for my
take on this issue so I've
decided to speak up.
First, I wonder about the
soundness of this argument
especially after listening to
President-elect General Buhari's
acceptance speech where he
clearly stated " There shall no
longer be a ruling party again...
We shall never rule over the
people as if they were
subservient to government".
This basically spoke to our better-angels
as a people and our sense of community
as Nigerians. If so, then where's the
logic in the argument? Is APC LAGOS by
the nature of this "aligning Lagos to the
center" statement, now inferring that
General Buhari intends to run a
vindictive, partial or insensitive
government? Well, that's not for me to
answer and it's clearly not the focus of
this piece.
What I know, however, is that Lagos has
always made progress in spite of being
in the opposition and right now it will
be to the benefit of democracy and the
whole country to have a watchful police,
as opposed to both power houses -
Lagos & Abuja concentrated in one
party. In fact, if my memory of history
serves me well, Lagos and the FG have
never been in the same party. Our
development as a state is as a result of
our ingenuity, tenacity and drive as a
people. And it's clear that Lagosians can
see through this total botch of logic.
During late Pa' Awo's time, the Action
Group led Lagos while the NCNC led the
FG. In 1979 up until 1983, LK Jakande's
achievements were under UPN even
though President Shagari was in NPN. In
1992 Governor Otedola was NRC and
SDP led the FG before the JUNE 12
annulment. In 1999 Tinubu was AD, FG
was PDP. In 2007-2011, his excellency,
Governor Fashola was AC/ACN/APC
while the FG led by Yar’Adua was PDP.
Under Yar’Adua, the FG released
withheld funds to Lagos that had been
blocked by his predecessor despite
being in opposing parties with Governor
Fashola. You see, our edge as a state
has always being about our collective
ability to stay ahead of the curve with
our without favour from the FG.
That said, it's important that we put in
context what is really happening in
Nigeria. The yearning for change that
has clearly swept this nation is one that
supersedes any one man, political party,
tribe or religion. Put simply, it is a
statement against the status-quo. A
clarion call by the people for leaders
who will put the peoples interests first
before aggrandisement and petty
bickering that seems to have become
the norm in politics. To politicians,
leaders and people in position of
authority including myself, it is a call
that we cannot stand against. It's one
that we must all comply with to ensure
that we build a better society and a
greater Nigeria.
Now given that our message of
transforming governance in Lagos to
ensure that we cater not only to few
elites but the generality of the greater
good of the people of Lagos is
resonating with Lagosians - both
indigenes and non-indigenes alike, one
can only expect the opposition to throw
everything including the kitchen sink. It
is clear that arguments of this sort are
only the rumblings of a small group of
people determined to hold on to power
at all costs in Lagos. Even on the
streets, one can clearly see the
destruction of our adverstising material
from the Third Mainland Bridge right
down to Ikoyi; it's been fatal. But I dare
say that the handwriting is on the wall.
The people of Lagos, in this election are
determined to CHANGE the status-quo
and they will do everything in their
power to protect and guard their votes.
As we approach the end of this tightly
contested election race in Lagos, I'll
encourage voters to be careful about
what I call last-minute divisive tactics
which, again is to be expected at a time
such as this. My opponent will keep on
making insinuations and attempt to pre-
empt how I will govern rather than
share with us his own unique take on
how he intends govern. It is political
silly season, I get it. But at the end of
day, the result speaks for itself and the
people are wiser now.
I pride myself on the fact that we've
run a pretty robust, disciplined and
inclusive campaign where people from
all works of life have supported our
efforts - technocrats, party members,
non-party members, youth volunteers,
indigenes and non-indigenes alike.
We've led by example and remained
honourable even in the face of
intimidation. We've highlighted bold
plans that will enhance the
contributions of our youth, artisans and
civil service to society. We've laid out
potentially path-breaking reform plans
to curb corruption in government by
leveraging web technology that will
make not just help voters to track
government procurement (as we
currently have) but also government
spending and expenditure thereby
making the process transparent so that
we can hold our leaders within the
public service accountable. We have not
shied away from debating major issues
and presenting our ideas on how we
intend to expand this economy and
ensure that ordinary Lagosians are not
over-burdened by the weight of unfair
taxes. We have campaigned on ideas
not propaganda and provided Lagosians
with an insight to what real change
looks like.
Our moment is now. And yes, we can
have a government free of nepotism.
We can have a government where we
curb corruption and nepotism and
extend the prosperity of this state to
include ordinary people. We can have a
Lagos that does not discriminate on the
basis of gender, religion or belief. We
can have a Lagos for you - A Lagos for
all of us.
That said, we cannot go to sleep and be
under any illusions that this will come
easy. We will need to fight for it. I am
calling on all people to defend our voiceas a people come April 11th. Stand at the polling units, monitor the polling officers, request for the number of accredited voters BEFORE you return to vote. Democracy must prevail in our great state, defend your votes, defend the polling units, protect Democracy. It will be my honour to serve as your Governor - a man capable of making his own decisions as I have always done in the past. Quite frankly, I'm not sure anyone can say the same of my opponent
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