Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola says Lagos State is too big to be handed over to the Peoples Democratic Party’s, PDP, governorship candidate, Jimi Agbaje to experiment with as he lacks experience.Fashola, who spoke on Tuesday at a Town Hall Meeting with artisans and tradesmen, said the All Progressive Congress, APC, candidate, Akinwunmi Ambode, should be trusted to govern and lead Lagos State in the right direction as he has the needed experience to do so, having beein in government for 27 years.
Though the governor did not mention Agbaje’s name, he was referring to him when he advised Lagosians not to trade experience in government business for experiment and trial and error that the opposition (PDP) wanted to bank on.
According to him, Ambode is better suited for the state’s number one job because of his competence saying he worked with him for over six years as Accountant General of the State and would start from where he handed over the baton to him.
He said he could thump his chest and vouch for the governorship candidate of the APC in Lagos State as one who would be a worthy successor to him.
Backing his contention with several anecdotes, the governor urged residents of Lagos not to make the mistake of electing someone without cognate experience who would only end up wobbling and fumbling with the fortunes of Lagos.
Fashola stated that he was ready to defend his stewardship in office at any time and at any forum if called upon to do so because his government had been very impactful to the lives of the average residents of the state.
He thanked the artisans, tradesmen and farmers for their honesty and truthfulness about the positive change that has come into their lives through the activities of the State Government in the informal sector.
The governor said he wholeheartedly supports their request for a continuation of the prosperity that is being enjoyed in the informal and agricultural sector under the present administration, adding that the only way such continuity could be actualized is by voting to ensure that the All Progressives Congress (APC) emerges victorious at all levels in Lagos State and the federal elevel in 2015.
He stressed that this is the time and period for Nigerians to make very important decisions about their lives as the elections approach and that the people should be bold to take up their leaders on what they have done with the time they have spent in office before asking for renewal of tenures.
The governor added that when President Goodluck Jonathan was seeking the votes of Nigerians before his first term in office, one of his sloganeering catch phrases was that as a child he had no shoes and walked barefooted but that now the campaigns would be about issues as the era of having no shoes to curry sympathy was gone.
Fashola said the President also made several promises such as the one he made in Lagos during the campaigns in 2011, where he promised to reconstruct the road leading to the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, adding that four years after, nothing had happened in Lagos.
Speaking at the event, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, running mate to Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, the APC presidential candidate, called on Nigerians not to vote for President Goodluck Jonathan, as doing so will only attract hunger.
He said Nigeria under Jonathan had already entrenched deep poverty and that retaining him for a second term would mean more hunger, and that the time had come for power to change hand at the centre.
Also speaking, the APC Lagos governorship candidate, Akinwunmi Ambode said APC from the period of Bola Tinubu to Governor Babatunde Fashola has continuously provided good governance to the people of the state, saying if voted into power, his government would not deviate from the principle.
He appealed to Lagos residents to vote massively for him during the governorship election and for General Buhari at the presidential election next year.
“Our promise to you as a party is to provide good governance and able leadership. We want to take good care of your businesses. If you have been making N1000 profit before, what we want for you is, after providing all the facilities you need for your business, that your profit swells to N10, 000.
“We know that when you make more profit, you will have more to take care of yourself, your children and your home. We promise not to stress you with our policies. I also want to remind you that no matter what we do, if we do not take over the central government, we may be hindered in a way and may not be able to provide all that we want to provide for you,” he said.
According to Ambode, “there must be change of government at the Federal level. APC must take over in Abuja. In Lagos, we remember where the former Governor Bola Tinubu started from and how Governor Fashola consolidated on his achievements and raised the bar, that is what we want to continue in Lagos.”
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