Agbaje blasts Fashola, APC, says they have failed Lagosians
(Nigeria) The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP governorship candidate
for Lagos State, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, has berated chieftains of the All People’s
Congress, APC and Governor Babatunde Fashola, for maligning him on various flimsy
charges.
He spoke Thursday on the second day of his party’s rallies
in Lagos, which took place in Amuwo and Apapa Local Government Areas.
“E be like say dis governorship election, na two-and-half
people Jimi Agbaje dey contest against,” he dug in pidgin, referring to public
attacks launched against him by APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu,
Governor Fashola and their candidate, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode.
Describing Tinubu as the puppeteer of the two others, Agbaje
said it was strange to be described as too old by people in the same 50s age
bracket as himself, especially as their party presented a 72-year old as its
Presidential candidate.
As far as he was concerned, the government was lashing back
at him for exposing the cases of impunity and weakness in the administration of
Lagos State, saying, the government had failed abysmally.
He said: “To do well is our children passing their exams. To
do well is for poor people to have houses they can afford. To do well is for
people to have a suitable environment to practice their trades and run their
businesses. Whether they worked hard or not is not the issue. They have worked hard
but they have failed.
“This election, this one, God has given it to us. They
cannot continue. To continue is when you have passed. Have they passed or
failed?”
“Failed!” the crowd yelled.
He said the recent spate of attacks on his person were a reflection
of desperation on the part of the rival APC.
Speaking to a crowd at the rally ground opposite FESTAC
Gate, Lagos, Agbaje said Fashola’s Wednesday tirade that the politician was a
tax evader had been predated by insinuations that at 57 the PDP candidate was
too old to be Governor and an earlier one that he lacked experience in public
office.
“This election is not about experience but qualification,”
Agbaje said.
“Jimi Agbaje no get experience for political office, but equalify.”
The crowd cheered as he reminded the people that his critics
too had lacked public service experience before they took over the reins of
power in the state.
“They even talk about experience. They say I don’t have
government experience. Tinubu was just a Senator for three months before
becoming governor. For me what is most important is qualification and I am
eminently qualified to be the Lagos governor,” he added.
According to him, the experience that Mr. Ambode could lay
claim to had been rubbished in the two public debates at which the two
contestants met, one organised a fortnight ago by the Archbishop Vining
Memorial Church and another last week by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and
Industry.
“One by one, I go give them T.K.O.,” he joked.
Dismissing the tax evasion allegations levelled against him
Wednesday by Fashola, Agbaje said: “On Wednesday, dem say Jimi Agbaje na tax
evader. But as God dey catch person, just recently, na im dem send me
congratulations say I dey pay my tax well-well.”
He made reference to a letter of commendation written by the
Lagos State Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Ayo Gbeleyi.
Describing all the allegations as unwarranted and malicious,
Agbaje said: “My prayer be say as dem dey throw mud for my body, e no go stick
to me. E go backfire!”
“Amen!” the crowd answered.
Addressing the salient issues bedevilling the administrating
of Lagos State, Agbaje acknowledged the hardship occasioned by several policies
of the government.
He assured non-indigenes that discrimination against them,
their interests and their businesses would dissipate as soon as he came to
power.
Contesting the government’s claim that Lagos was overcrowded
and a policy to manage the influx of strangers would be established, Agbaje
said: “Trying to deport strangers from other states is like trying to stop the
flow of a river with your hand. Is it possible?”
Agbaje also promised that the notorious Lagos State Traffic
Management Authority (LASTMA) would be rebranded, not scrapped, saying, the
problem with the agency was that it had vied from its statutory duty of traffic
management to imposing draconian fines on motorists in order to generate funds
for the government.
He also said that as part of his human faced policies, okada
commercial motorcyclists would be taken into consideration in formulating
policies concerning their operations.
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