NIGERIA: Fashola Vs. Jonathan: ‘The Difference Is So Clear’…A MUST READ
In an interview with Eniola Akinkuotu, the Chairman of the All Progressives Congress in Lagos State, Chief Dele Ajomale, speaks on politics ...
http://www.africaeagle.com/2014/09/nigeria-fashola-vs-jonathan-difference.html
In an interview with Eniola Akinkuotu, the Chairman of the All Progressives Congress in Lagos State, Chief Dele Ajomale, speaks on politics ahead of the 2015 elections and the policies of the state government.
Your party has zoned the governorship seat to the Lagos-East senatorial district. If a strong candidate who is not from that district is given massive support, will he be denied the party’s ticket?
Why not? You cannot really call it zoning. It is only fair that if you have three senatorial districts and the two others have occupied the governorship position for eight years each, you have to give the third senatorial district the third the opportunity to do so. It is tantamount to saying that they are not part of the equation and you are not treating them fairly. We are concentrating on the Lagos-East but that does not bar those from the other senatorial districts from contesting. That is why we said it would be fair if aspirants in other senatorial districts can leave it for them but if after that, people are still interested in running, then fine. Lagos-East will be given the ticket if they can produce the best person because what we are looking for is the best and not solely on where the person comes from. So, we are looking for the best and if the East can produce the best, that is fine but if the best emerges from another senatorial district, there is no reason why we cannot pick from there but our priority is the East. The person must be able to meet or beat the performance of Governor Babatunde Fashola. Fashola has been able to beat the record of his predecessor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and I am sure Fashola will be looking for someone that will take this government to greater heights and that is the best thing we can bequeath to the people of Lagos.
But Fashola’s government has been criticised for being too elitist and high-handed in the area of taxation.
The important thing is that Lagosians are benefiting and seeing what is being done with the money. We are not at the federal level and certainly Lagos State is performing better than the Federal Government in all areas. I thank God that this Ebola Virus Disease started from Lagos. If it had started from another state, what we would be saying now would be different, it could be worse. And that is a high level of medical preparation due to the high level of medical facilities available in Lagos. Lagos is the showpiece, it is the gateway to the world so we must have everything that is comparable with the outside world because when you are landing in Nigeria, most of the time it is in Lagos that you will land. And the impression you give as the first port of call is what people will consider as a good country or a bad one. So, all the facilities we are providing are bought with money which comes from taxation and we are seeing what they are doing with the money. That is why many people are not complaining but of course you will still find some who will complain. In America, one of the worst crimes you can commit is tax evasion. It is the same in Britain, Germany and many advanced countries because it is that money that they use in developing their countries.
So, whatever you need that is good requires a lot of funding and we are not getting the money from anywhere except through taxation. The Federal Government is controlling the oil, controlling our ports and everything that can bring money to Lagos State. So, everything is taken to Abuja to be shared by those who don’t really believe in development. If Lagos had been allowed to keep what it has been able to generate, we would have been able to perform a lot better. In the US it is the local government that controls the ports. But here, the Seme border, Idiroko and the ports, are controlled by the Federal Government. So, where do we get the money to pay?
The allocation that comes from the Federal Government is only enough to pay the salaries of civil servants so where do we get the money for development? And if you promise the people that you want to provide certain things during your campaign, you must be able to keep your promise. That is the policy of our government and our party but there are some parties and some governments that don’t believe in that. Immediately they make their promise, throughout the time they are going to be there.
But the PDP has often criticised this administration of destroying the legacy of Alhaji Lateef Jakande who built affordable housing and made education virtually free.
Can you compare the Jakande era with this era? What you were buying for N2 during the Jakande era is what you are buying for N50 now. During Jakande’s era, a car that was being sold for N7, 500 is what we are buying for between N3m and N4m now. So you can’t compare the two eras. We are now experiencing economic downturn all over the world and the prices of things are going up all over Europe. Even America had its own problem. So, the prices of goods and services at that time are not what we are facing now. During Jakande’s era, I rented an apartment at the cost of N12, 000 per year in Surulere. You can’t rent a good flat in Surulere now for less than N1m. So, it is clear that you cannot compare the two eras. What was the cost of building a house then? When I built my first house in 1986, which was four flats of three bedroom each, I spent N460, 000. If I want to build that same house now, I will need between N6m and N8m. Jakande’s era ended in 1983 and that is over 30 years ago. At that time, a dollar was about 80k. How much is a dollar now? About N170. So, what they are paying as tax now is commensurate with the present state of the economy. It is unfortunate that the PDP politicises everything when they ought to use their common sense to talk about economic matters. So, we are using the taxes to fulfil the promises made to the people of Lagos, we are not building our castles in the sky like what the PDP is trying to do. It shows clearly that they cannot manage the economy of Lagos.
As part of efforts to woo voters, some PDP aspirants have promised to reverse some of Fashola’s policies and reverse the restriction on commercial motorcycles. Are you not worried that the PDP will get the support of okada riders?
That is the irony of it. That is how shallow their thinking is. They should go and look at the statistics of accidents before and after the restriction. We restricted okada to certain routes. Out of about 10,000 roads, we restricted just about 486, which is less than five per cent. Just go to Igbobi Orthopaedic Hospital or any other public hospital and do your investigation and compare the past rate of accident with now. Find out the mortality rate for okada riders and now. Check the statistics on okada robbery incidents and compare it with what it was before the restriction. So, that is why I said the PDP just talks senselessly. If they were intelligent, they would have investigated this before they started saying they would reverse the restriction on okada so that they can start killing the people of Lagos. It is only an irresponsible government that will do that. In Abuja, where it is the PDP that is in control, there is a total ban on okada. In Akwa Ibom, as well as Delta, it is total ban. In Enugu State, it is total and these are all PDP states. We only restricted them from some roads in order for them not to kill themselves. A lot of okada passengers have been maimed and paralysed because of okada accidents. It is only an irresponsible government that will fold its arms while its citizens are being killed on the road. The rate of accidents in Lagos then was enough to move any well-meaning government but what the PDP wants to do is to return the old order and bring back death to our roads. If that is the case, if I were to vote, I would never vote for them.
The PDP is forming coalition with other parties in Lagos in order to wrest power from the APC. What are you doing to checkmate this?
Good luck to them but it cannot affect our chances. The thing is that all those other parties, when the time comes, will know that the PDP will subsume them. They will not even consider them to be anything. Why can’t the PDP do the same in all the states? Why do they want to do it in Lagos alone? Why don’t they combine with other parties in all the other states? The standard should be the same. If they are smart, all the other parties that are agreeing to a coalition should know that the PDP just wants to use and dump them and I believe that is the plan of the PDP. We also have a relationship with almost all these political parties but of two evils, they will choose one and it certainly will not be the PDP.
Defection from and to the APC is very common. So, how does the APC differ from the PDP in terms of ideology since it is almost the same set of politicians that constitute the two parties?
We are far apart, that is what many people do not know. Go and get our manifesto which will soon be made public. We are more of a socialist party and our concern is for the common man. We are not rich and conservative like the PDP. So, all the promises we have been making in our own states have been fulfilled. Even in places where we took over from the PDP, people have seen the difference between the time of the PDP and now. In Ogun and Oyo states, we have seen the difference. When Gbenga Daniel (former Ogun State governor), was there, what did he do? We are seeing the difference now with good roads and better hospitals and schools. All the money that we get from the Federal Government can be accounted for and we are using it judiciously for the good of our people. The Federal Government has been battling with electricity since 1979 and they cannot even find a solution to it. So, they should come and explain to Nigeria why they have not been able to solve the problem of electricity despite the billions that has been spent. I have said it several times that if the President can solve the problem of electricity before the election, Nigerians will be grateful to him. Unfortunately, he cannot do it because those around him are just there to embezzle money and bastardise his integrity but we know that we can solve the problem within five years.
Under President Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria’s economy became the largest in Africa. How do you see Jonathan’s performance in the past four years?
I will say it is below standard. Certainly, Nigeria could have done better. Lagos is doing better under Fashola. The average Nigerian still lives under a dollar a day according to the World Bank. So, how are we improving? South Africa and so many other African countries are better so how can we say we have the biggest economy? Whatever hanky-panky that is being perpetrated now, one day it will be out in the open. How do you evaluate the economy when you have millions of youths roaming the streets in search of jobs even four years after graduation? What is the yardstick used to determine the state of the economy when there is still a high rate of poverty. Why are people in the diaspora not running back home if we have the largest economy in Africa?
But the federal taskforce through the SURE-P has created jobs for Lagos youths
Those are thugs which the PDP wants to use for the election next year. How many of them are being paid? Is the SURE-P meant for the PDP to be using to recruit thugs in Lagos? That money belongs to all of us. It should not be for politics. You don’t play politics with the lives of people. They are even recruiting retired soldiers into the scheme when a retired soldier is collecting benefits and you have younger people who are graduates but have no jobs. They have been turned into uniformed thugs. They wear black. Many of them were deployed in Osun State during the election.
Source: PUNCH
Your party has zoned the governorship seat to the Lagos-East senatorial district. If a strong candidate who is not from that district is given massive support, will he be denied the party’s ticket?
Why not? You cannot really call it zoning. It is only fair that if you have three senatorial districts and the two others have occupied the governorship position for eight years each, you have to give the third senatorial district the third the opportunity to do so. It is tantamount to saying that they are not part of the equation and you are not treating them fairly. We are concentrating on the Lagos-East but that does not bar those from the other senatorial districts from contesting. That is why we said it would be fair if aspirants in other senatorial districts can leave it for them but if after that, people are still interested in running, then fine. Lagos-East will be given the ticket if they can produce the best person because what we are looking for is the best and not solely on where the person comes from. So, we are looking for the best and if the East can produce the best, that is fine but if the best emerges from another senatorial district, there is no reason why we cannot pick from there but our priority is the East. The person must be able to meet or beat the performance of Governor Babatunde Fashola. Fashola has been able to beat the record of his predecessor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and I am sure Fashola will be looking for someone that will take this government to greater heights and that is the best thing we can bequeath to the people of Lagos.
But Fashola’s government has been criticised for being too elitist and high-handed in the area of taxation.
The important thing is that Lagosians are benefiting and seeing what is being done with the money. We are not at the federal level and certainly Lagos State is performing better than the Federal Government in all areas. I thank God that this Ebola Virus Disease started from Lagos. If it had started from another state, what we would be saying now would be different, it could be worse. And that is a high level of medical preparation due to the high level of medical facilities available in Lagos. Lagos is the showpiece, it is the gateway to the world so we must have everything that is comparable with the outside world because when you are landing in Nigeria, most of the time it is in Lagos that you will land. And the impression you give as the first port of call is what people will consider as a good country or a bad one. So, all the facilities we are providing are bought with money which comes from taxation and we are seeing what they are doing with the money. That is why many people are not complaining but of course you will still find some who will complain. In America, one of the worst crimes you can commit is tax evasion. It is the same in Britain, Germany and many advanced countries because it is that money that they use in developing their countries.
So, whatever you need that is good requires a lot of funding and we are not getting the money from anywhere except through taxation. The Federal Government is controlling the oil, controlling our ports and everything that can bring money to Lagos State. So, everything is taken to Abuja to be shared by those who don’t really believe in development. If Lagos had been allowed to keep what it has been able to generate, we would have been able to perform a lot better. In the US it is the local government that controls the ports. But here, the Seme border, Idiroko and the ports, are controlled by the Federal Government. So, where do we get the money to pay?
The allocation that comes from the Federal Government is only enough to pay the salaries of civil servants so where do we get the money for development? And if you promise the people that you want to provide certain things during your campaign, you must be able to keep your promise. That is the policy of our government and our party but there are some parties and some governments that don’t believe in that. Immediately they make their promise, throughout the time they are going to be there.
But the PDP has often criticised this administration of destroying the legacy of Alhaji Lateef Jakande who built affordable housing and made education virtually free.
Can you compare the Jakande era with this era? What you were buying for N2 during the Jakande era is what you are buying for N50 now. During Jakande’s era, a car that was being sold for N7, 500 is what we are buying for between N3m and N4m now. So you can’t compare the two eras. We are now experiencing economic downturn all over the world and the prices of things are going up all over Europe. Even America had its own problem. So, the prices of goods and services at that time are not what we are facing now. During Jakande’s era, I rented an apartment at the cost of N12, 000 per year in Surulere. You can’t rent a good flat in Surulere now for less than N1m. So, it is clear that you cannot compare the two eras. What was the cost of building a house then? When I built my first house in 1986, which was four flats of three bedroom each, I spent N460, 000. If I want to build that same house now, I will need between N6m and N8m. Jakande’s era ended in 1983 and that is over 30 years ago. At that time, a dollar was about 80k. How much is a dollar now? About N170. So, what they are paying as tax now is commensurate with the present state of the economy. It is unfortunate that the PDP politicises everything when they ought to use their common sense to talk about economic matters. So, we are using the taxes to fulfil the promises made to the people of Lagos, we are not building our castles in the sky like what the PDP is trying to do. It shows clearly that they cannot manage the economy of Lagos.
As part of efforts to woo voters, some PDP aspirants have promised to reverse some of Fashola’s policies and reverse the restriction on commercial motorcycles. Are you not worried that the PDP will get the support of okada riders?
That is the irony of it. That is how shallow their thinking is. They should go and look at the statistics of accidents before and after the restriction. We restricted okada to certain routes. Out of about 10,000 roads, we restricted just about 486, which is less than five per cent. Just go to Igbobi Orthopaedic Hospital or any other public hospital and do your investigation and compare the past rate of accident with now. Find out the mortality rate for okada riders and now. Check the statistics on okada robbery incidents and compare it with what it was before the restriction. So, that is why I said the PDP just talks senselessly. If they were intelligent, they would have investigated this before they started saying they would reverse the restriction on okada so that they can start killing the people of Lagos. It is only an irresponsible government that will do that. In Abuja, where it is the PDP that is in control, there is a total ban on okada. In Akwa Ibom, as well as Delta, it is total ban. In Enugu State, it is total and these are all PDP states. We only restricted them from some roads in order for them not to kill themselves. A lot of okada passengers have been maimed and paralysed because of okada accidents. It is only an irresponsible government that will fold its arms while its citizens are being killed on the road. The rate of accidents in Lagos then was enough to move any well-meaning government but what the PDP wants to do is to return the old order and bring back death to our roads. If that is the case, if I were to vote, I would never vote for them.
The PDP is forming coalition with other parties in Lagos in order to wrest power from the APC. What are you doing to checkmate this?
Good luck to them but it cannot affect our chances. The thing is that all those other parties, when the time comes, will know that the PDP will subsume them. They will not even consider them to be anything. Why can’t the PDP do the same in all the states? Why do they want to do it in Lagos alone? Why don’t they combine with other parties in all the other states? The standard should be the same. If they are smart, all the other parties that are agreeing to a coalition should know that the PDP just wants to use and dump them and I believe that is the plan of the PDP. We also have a relationship with almost all these political parties but of two evils, they will choose one and it certainly will not be the PDP.
Defection from and to the APC is very common. So, how does the APC differ from the PDP in terms of ideology since it is almost the same set of politicians that constitute the two parties?
We are far apart, that is what many people do not know. Go and get our manifesto which will soon be made public. We are more of a socialist party and our concern is for the common man. We are not rich and conservative like the PDP. So, all the promises we have been making in our own states have been fulfilled. Even in places where we took over from the PDP, people have seen the difference between the time of the PDP and now. In Ogun and Oyo states, we have seen the difference. When Gbenga Daniel (former Ogun State governor), was there, what did he do? We are seeing the difference now with good roads and better hospitals and schools. All the money that we get from the Federal Government can be accounted for and we are using it judiciously for the good of our people. The Federal Government has been battling with electricity since 1979 and they cannot even find a solution to it. So, they should come and explain to Nigeria why they have not been able to solve the problem of electricity despite the billions that has been spent. I have said it several times that if the President can solve the problem of electricity before the election, Nigerians will be grateful to him. Unfortunately, he cannot do it because those around him are just there to embezzle money and bastardise his integrity but we know that we can solve the problem within five years.
Under President Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria’s economy became the largest in Africa. How do you see Jonathan’s performance in the past four years?
I will say it is below standard. Certainly, Nigeria could have done better. Lagos is doing better under Fashola. The average Nigerian still lives under a dollar a day according to the World Bank. So, how are we improving? South Africa and so many other African countries are better so how can we say we have the biggest economy? Whatever hanky-panky that is being perpetrated now, one day it will be out in the open. How do you evaluate the economy when you have millions of youths roaming the streets in search of jobs even four years after graduation? What is the yardstick used to determine the state of the economy when there is still a high rate of poverty. Why are people in the diaspora not running back home if we have the largest economy in Africa?
But the federal taskforce through the SURE-P has created jobs for Lagos youths
Those are thugs which the PDP wants to use for the election next year. How many of them are being paid? Is the SURE-P meant for the PDP to be using to recruit thugs in Lagos? That money belongs to all of us. It should not be for politics. You don’t play politics with the lives of people. They are even recruiting retired soldiers into the scheme when a retired soldier is collecting benefits and you have younger people who are graduates but have no jobs. They have been turned into uniformed thugs. They wear black. Many of them were deployed in Osun State during the election.
Source: PUNCH
