Lagos State chapter of
All Progressives Congress (APC) has tackled the governorship candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 poll, Mr Jimi Agbaje, over his comments on the recent ban on Okada and Keke Maruwa in certain parts of the state, saying the main opposition party’s candidate lacked the skill and experience to teach Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu the art of planning.
Agbaje had counselled the state governor to plan well before enforcing the ban, stressing that the decision, which he described as abrupt could impact negatively on the people of Lagos.
Lagos State APC Publicity Secretary, Hon. Seye Oladejo, in its reaction, enjoined the PDP chieftain to concentrate on how to resuscitate his moribund party, instead of offering such advice on ban of Okada and Keke Maruwa in the state.
“Whatever skill or ability to organize possessed by Mr Agbaje and his co-travellers will be better deplored to resuscitate the moribund opposition party on life support machine,” APC spokesperson said.
Oladejo, while noting that “the PDP serial governorship candidate” only had relative and inconsequential experience in business and zero idea about governance at any level, said his counsel on the ban a amounted to a futile attempt to teach a government well-grounded in intellectual and institutional experience on how to plan.
According to the APC spokesperson, the law being implemented regarding latest decision on okada and Keke Maruwa “has been in place for over six years after painstaking efforts by the Lagos State House of Assembly incorporated in-puts from stakeholders.”
He explained that the gradual implementation of the law was a reflection of the thoughtfulness of the government not to create a shock in the polity.
“May I use this medium to acknowledge and appreciate the voluntary compliance of some operators in line with the laws of the state. We also wish to encourage the riders to take advantage of opportunities offered by the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund, the Lagos State Vocational Training Institutes, the Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Civic Engagement, etc,” Oladejo said.
Speaking further, the APC spokesperson maintained that the safety of lives and property of people of Lagos remained the focal point of administration of Governor Sanwo-Olu.
“The people remain the focal point of the Sanwoolu-Olu administration while not losing sight of its onerous responsibility to ensure the safety of lives and property of the citizenry,” he said.
While enjoining Agbaje and his “co-travelers” to deploy whatever skill or ability they possessed to wake the PDP “on life support machine” back to life, Oladejo further counselled that: “The efforts to mobilize and sponsor violent protests against a well-meaning government policy is also not lost on all and sundry.”