By Obinna Amaobi
A former Commissioner for Public Transportation in Lagos State, Lanre Razak, has taken a swipe at the governorship candidate of the Advance Democratic Party (ADP) in the 2019 election in the state, Babatunde Gbadamosi, for rating Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu low in governance so far, describing the comments as inciting, worthless and baseless.
He said Gbadamosi’s claim that Lagos State could afford to pay a minimum wage of N100,000 monthly as against the approved N30,000 new national minimum as not only unfortunate but also designed to whip up public sentiment and pitch civil servants already enjoying N35,000 minimum wage against the government to create industrial crisis in the state.
In a statement in Epe on Sunday, Razak said judging by Gbadamosi’s comments he is yet to fully recover from the shocking defeat suffered by his party in the March 9, 2019 state’s governorship poll, adding however that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration in the state welcomes workable suggestions that will move the Centre of Excellence forward.
He said Sanwo-Olu has faithfully implemented the party’s developmental agenda in the past six months and made positive impact through good governance in such areas as security, repair and construction of roads, ameliorating the traffic gridlock, ensuring a cleaner environment and mobilising contractors to sites to resume work on major projects like the Lagos- Badagry expressway and the fly over at Pen Cinema, Agege, which he inherited from the previous administration.
Noting that some governors are yet to constitute their cabinet, Razak, who is also the Balogun General of Epe, said Gbadamosi rather than instigate Lagos civil servants to demand for N100,000 new wage now, should have joined forces with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) during the agitation for pay rise. He added that Sanwo-Olu approved N35,000 (the highest by any state government) as minimum wage as against the national benchmark of N30,000.
Razak, who is also a member of the Lagos Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC), said: “I was disappointed when Gbadamosi was quoted as asking Governor Sanwo-Olu to ‘wake up’ to the challenges of delivering dividends of democracy to Lagosians after 200 days in office and scoring him low across all sectors of governance, saying that ‘the governor could have done better and needs to find his spine, backbone, his will and execute what he said he will execute if elected the governor of Lagos state.”
“Rather than allow the misinformation to fly, as a loyal member of the APC, I should set the record straight even though Lagosians are living witnesses to the progressive governance taking place across the state in all sectors which is impacting positively on us. He should realise that governance is not about paying salaries and allowances to workers only but also delivering democracy dividends to citizens.
“This same Gbadamosi is fully aware that Sanwo-Olu’s administration, with the support of the State House of Assembly, has borrowed billions of naira to fix major roads that were in deplorable condition and some of the roads have been completed and construction ongoing in others. Also, some health facilities have been upgraded while work is in progress in many secondary schools. What criteria did Gbadamosi use in assessing the governor whose achievements are glaring for all to see?
“He should make his master plan for Lagos state if any, available to the public which he thought Sanwo-Olu would have implemented rather than criticizing the governor for the sake of it. He is a politician that is used to crossing the river on the map when in fact doesn’t know and have what it takes to get the job done.”
He urged members of the opposition in the state to henceforth be properly guided and be factual in assessing the government rather than resort to campaign of calumny and falsehood to score cheap political points.
He also reiterated his call on Lagosians to fully support the state administration through prompt payment of taxes and rates for government to generate the needed revenue to execute its transformational projects.
