I’ll free Lagosians from godfatherism – Agbaje

The Lagos State governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party , Mr Jimi Agbaje , has said indigenes of the state deserve freedom from political ‘ godfatherism . ’

Agbaje , who spoke on Sunday Politics , a live programme on Channels Television , on Sunday , said his campaign tagged , ‘ Free Lagos ’ , was about delivering the state from subjection to one man ’ s dictates.

He said , “ Let me start from the basics of the Freedom of Information. Lagos is still run like a closed shop ; it ’ s like a private company . Lagos has refused to domesticate its Freedom of Information Bill , so we don ’ t know what plays out in Lagos .

“ So , we ’ re talking about freedom in the sense that we want to be able to have access to how exactly they are running our government. We talk about freedom where , in the last 20 years , Lagos has spent some N 7 tn and we ’ re asking, ‘ What have we got for N 7 tn ? Have we got value for money ?’

“ Now , there is a private company that takes a percentage of that N 7 tn , and we ’ re asking , ‘ For what purpose ?’ There is a private company fund collector , Alphabeta or whatever, that collects – we don’ t even know what the percentage is . It could be 10 or 12 ( per cent ) , eight or six ( per cent ) . ”

When asked about the legitimacy of the firm and its operations , Agbaje stated that it was not about it being legal but the morality of its involvement in the state ’ s finances .

“ If you tell me that for every amount of money that Lagos collects or spends , there ’ s a private company that is collecting , I ’ m asking, ‘ That is taxpayers ’ money , so why should it be ? To what purpose ?’

“ These people that collect money , you don’ t see them . You don ’ t see their staff . When people collect taxes , it is Lagos Inland Revenue Service ’ s personnel that come.

“ It is against standard practice because we don’ t see what they are doing and we don’ t even know what the percentage is . I don’ t see ( the) value for money ; let’ s put it like that . So , it ’ s freedom from that . It’ s not about being legal ; it ’ s about value for money . It’ s asking ourselves , ‘ What exactly are they doing ?’”

Asked if he would terminate Alphabeta ’ s involvement in the affairs of the state if he became governor , the PDP candidate reiterated his desire to rid the state of arrogance .

According to Agbaje , despite parting ways before the 2007 elections, it is wrong to say there was a feud between him and the national leader of the All Progressives Congress , Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

He explained, “ There has never been a feud between myself and ( Tinubu) . It wasn ’ t about anger ; it was about principle . ”

Don ’ t forget that even after that , offers were given to me . So , it ’ s not about that ; it ’ s about principle . It’ s not about anger .