The Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, on Sunday described the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, as the worst civilian governor in the history of Lagos State.
Atiku spoke through Phrank Shaibu, his Special Assistant on Public Communication.
In a statement on Sunday, Shaibu said the best governor of Lagos is late Alhaji Lateef Jakande who was governor from 1979 to 1983.
Shaibu said, “Tinubu cannot be the best product from Lagos. That title belongs to the late Lateef Jakande who was a disciple of Chief Obafemi Awolowo. Jakande built the Lekki-Epe Expressway from scratch, effectively opening up the Lekki Peninsula axis. Jakande constructed the Alausa Government Secretariat and Governor’s Office, the Lagos State University (LASU) and the Nigerian Institute of Journalism (NIJ).
“He built all the low-cost housing units in Lagos. Some of the housing units include low-cost estates at Amuwo-Odofin, Ijaiye, Dolphin, Oke-Afa, Ije, Abesan, Iponri, Ipaja, Abule Nla, Epe, Anikantamo, Surulere, Iba, Ikorodu, Badagry.
“Jakande built all the general hospitals in Gbagada and Ikorodu as well as LASUTH. He also built 20 health centres in the state. Jakande also constructed most of the primary and secondary schools in Lagos that still stand today.
“Available records stated that Jakande built 11,000 classrooms between March and August 1980 and by 1983, he had built over 22,000 classrooms with 40 pupils per class. The then governor, in exhibiting his passion for education, established a Teacher Training College and a College of Education (COE).
“He declared free education at all levels despite inheriting an empty treasury from the military. In fact, not only was schooling free, he also provided free educational inputs to students including textbooks, exercise books, and others.
“The Muslim Students Society of Nigeria captured Jakande’s legacy perfectly last year when it said, ‘No governor in Lagos has been able to match the achievements of the late Jakande in the educational sector… Till date, his housing policies still remain reference points for successive governments.
“He was such an outstanding administrator that his tenure as a governor remains a yardstick for good governance in the state.
“All these he achieved in just four years. Besides, until his death, the late Jakande lived a modest life around Coker Street, Ilupeju and refused to corner the resources of the state.
“The short-lived Third Republic which produced Michael Otedola lasted for barely a year and so cannot be assessed fairly.
“But what did Tinubu achieve as governor of Lagos? He claims that he met an Internally Generated Revenue of N600 million in 1999 and moved it to N5 billion a month.
“This has been fact-checked by the CDD Election War Room and has been discovered to be false.
“The verdict reads, ‘Data from the Central Bank statistical bulletin as quoted by Research Academy of Social Sciences showed that Lagos generated N14.6 billion in 1999. This amounts to an average of N1.22 billion monthly.”
Shaibu also said that Tinubu’s description of Lagos as ‘a jungle, an uncivilised place’ when he took over in 1999 was pure falsehood since Lagos was the headquarters of the stock exchange and the private sector since the 1960s.Shaibu
He said, “His claim that the entire state had just one ambulance when he took over in 1999 is also impossible to believe and is specious at best.
“Tinubu’s strategy is based on falsehood. He paints a grim picture of Lagos he inherited, describing the state as a jungle and then exaggerates the little achievements he made in his eight years in office but Nigerians must not be fooled.
“In four years, Jakande built several low-cost housing estates and reduced the state’s housing problem while on Tinubu’s watch the World Bank says two out of every three Lagosians live in a slum. Is this the kind of development he wants to replicate at the center?
“Interestingly, while Jakande invested in schools, Tinubu relocated the Lagos State Polytechnic in Ketu to Ikorodu and then appropriated the land to TVC, his television station. Indeed there is a difference between leaders and dealers.
“His usual excuse for his failure is that the PDP government seized federal allocation for eight years and thus he was handicapped but this is a lie from the pit of hell and has been fact-checked. The federal allocation to the state was never touched during the eight years. The funds that were withheld were those belonging to the local governments and this was for two and half years. They were later released by President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua after the dispute.
“The APC Presidential candidate also lied constantly that he wanted to provide the people of Lagos with 24-hour electricity but he was stopped by Obasanjo due to political reasons. This is another lie that has been punctured by APC Governor Nasir El-Rufai in his book titled, ‘The Accidental Public Servant.’
“From pages 81 to 84, El-Rufai, who was in charge of the Bureau of Public Enterprise, says in the book that ‘I was concerned that this (deal) could negatively impact the future privatisation of NEPA… The Lagos State Enron case was particularly dangerous as it could have bankrupted NEPA almost overnight.’
“For the sake of argument, let us even assume that Obasanjo stopped Tinubu from giving Lagosians 24/7 electricity. The APC has been in power at the centre for the last eight years. Why hasn’t Lagos finally gotten the 24/7 electricity? Another lie busted.”
Shaibu said Tinubu’s successor, Babatunde Fashola, did a much better job than him, especially in the area of infrastructure.
He said, “It was Fashola who built the Lekki-Ikoyi link bridge and also expanded the Lekki-Epe Expressway in 2010 and introduced BRT buses. The same Fashola was the one who began the beautification of Lagos, building parks and gardens.
“His successor, Akinwunmi Ambode, was the one responsible for the transformation at Oshodi but he was also removed by the Lagos godfather for disobedience through a sham primary. Incidentally, Ambode’s accomplishment in Oshodi appears on every advert for Tinubu’s Presidency. Indeed the heart of man is wicked.
“Tinubu continues to take credit for the work of others even though he himself was a failure in government. He counts 1999 to 2023 as his tenure as Lagos State governor therefore appropriating the achievement of other governors and then promises to carry out their exploits on a national level.
“But even if we appropriate the tenure of other governors to him, it should be noted that Lagos State has been consistently ranked as the worst city in the world to live in after Damascus, according to the Economic Intelligence Unit. It is the worst African city to live in, worse even than Tripoli despite the fact that the city boasts of being the 5th largest economy in Africa.
“If after 23 years, Lagos still does not come up in the top 30 most liveable cities in Africa, there is no guarantee these people will fare better in Aso Rock. Tinubu is not bringing any renewed hope. He is bringing hopelessness to Nigerians and must be prevented from doing so.”
