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2007: Why PDP cannot �capture� Lagos
The race to the oval office, Alausa, Ikeja of Lagos State has begun with
gladiators from the Alliance for Democracy (AD) and ruling Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) jostling to woo the electorate ahead of 2007 gubernatorial poll.
Correspondent FUNKE ODUWOLE examines the plot by the PDP to conquer Lagos
and the AD�s preparedness to defend its only state.
SINCE August 1, 2004 when
President Olusegun Obasanjo voiced the plans of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
to "capture" Lagos State come 2007, the controversy raised by his threat has not
stopped.
Many organisations, politicians, political
analysts, students and even market women across the country have commented on
it. Indeed, most of them condemned the statement as unbecoming coming from the
president of the country.
President Obasanjo made the statement at a
state dinner organised for him by the Osun State Government in Osogbo, the state
capital while responding to PDP National Vice Chairman, South West, Chief Bode
George�s view that Lagos needed a man of the calibre of Governor Olagunsoye
Oyinlola, to turn it around. According to Obasanjo, "on your request of having
an Oyinlola in Lagos, that would be done in the not too distant future. By 2007,
PDP would be in charge in Lagos".
Members of the Alliance for Democracy (AD)
in various parts of the country have denounced the president�s statement,
calling it a pipe dream that can never be realised. For instance, the chairman
of AD in Lagos State, Prince Abiodun Ogunleye said the president�s wish was
unrealistic. "Mr President, you have spoken on your desire for your party to
�capture� Lagos come 2007. We sincerely respect your democratic freedom to dream
no matter how unrealistic", he noted.
It however seems that the AD in the state
is not taking chances but is battle ready to resist the president and his party.
Speaking in a similar vein, the state government warned that PDP has no say in
Lagos politics. "They have tried twice and they failed. They tried it in 1999
and they tried it again in 2003 but failed, they can never "capture" Lagos from
AD and they know it. It is only a pipe dream which they are entitled to anyway".
A political observer who spoke with
Daily Champion on the c ondition of anonymity condemned the plans to
"capture" Lagos. He said it was uncalled for because one could now see the
reason why the PDP bigwigs have been attacking Lagos state government from every
point. Similarly, the chairmen of 57 local government areas in the state at a
press conference recently raised alarm over the activities of the Federal Road
Maintenance Agency (FERMA) officials and their "thugs" in the state, alleging
that they have constituted themselves into a task force, with the backing of the
minister of works, arresting motorists indiscriminately on Lagos roads and
charging fines and collecting rates in markets and motor parks.
The Minister of Works, Chief Adeseye
Ogunlewe had also ordered officials of Lagos State Traffic Management Authority
(LASTMA) and Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) to vacate federal roads in Lagos.
Chairman of the Conference of Local
Government Chairmen in Lagos, Alhaji Muniru Muse of Apapa local government said
the PDP through FERMA has been undermining the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR)
base of local government councils in Lagos State. "They have been illegally and
forcibly collecting tolls and fees from markets, garages and car parks located
on the so-called federal highways and even on many state roads," he alleged.
On his part, Prince Ogunleye alleged that
the PDP in Lagos State is seeking to hijack power at the grassroots through the
back door as Senator Ogunlewe has appointed PDP chairmanship aspirants
throughout the state as FERMA�s special implementation assistants, who now go
about trying to seize control of markets, motor parks, car parks, garages and
public toilets all of which fall within the constitutional purview of local
governments.
Notwithstanding the tense atmosphere, the
president has not publicly cautioned the minister and his men while the police
has so far not intervened to arrest the situation despite the various calls from
various quarters on the president to call Ogunlewe to order.
Political observers believe that the PDP
could really be working towards "capturing" Lagos state during the 2007 polls
considering the various road maintenance projects it has been executing in the
state. Of all the 36 states in the country, Lagos actually got the biggest chunk
of the funds earmarked for the Operation 500 roads project launched in January
this year and the effect has really been visible and widely felt by Lagosians.
Since FERMA commenced repair of Lagos roads, notably the Oshodi Interchange,
Ojota-Ikorodu road and Itoikin-Epe road, things have never been the same again
for motorists who ply these roads. The Third Mainland bridge was also
rehabilitated while the old Lagos toll gate at Ojota got additional lanes to
curb the usual traffic bottlenecks experienced in that area.
Apart from the aggressive road maintenance
projects with which the PDP wants to entice the people of Lagos, it also has
other things that could work in its favour if it really hopes to "capture" Lagos
in the next general elections.
For instance, the withholding of local
government allocation to Lagos by the PDP-led Federal Government is seen as a
game plan to bring the AD-led government of the state into disrepute and make it
lose the confidence of the people so that by 2007 they will have no choice but
to vote PDP. Analysts say that this is part of the plot by the PDP to use the
federal might against the AD in 2007. The Lagos State government has, however,
taken the matter before the Supreme Court for adjudication.
Although the PDP may be having temporary
advantage over AD based on road repairs, the AD also is not without some strong
points that would enable the party to retain power in Lagos, come 2007.
Having ruled Lagos consecutively for eight
years (by 2007) the AD would have the advantage of the incumbency factor.
The administration of Asiwaju Bola
Tinubu, in the view of analysts, has actually made tremendous positive impact on
the state. It also has put in place machinery for wholesale rehabilitation of
Lagos State roads that would make the federal effort to pale into
insignificance.
The governor has really warmed himself
into the hearts of Lagosians through the implementation of several
people-oriented programmes. Traditional rulers are also said to be loyal to the
AD because of the various achievements and unprecedented performance of the
Tinubu administration in the state. Senator Tinubu, who is the only governor
re-elected on the platform of AD during the 2003 general elections, also has a
fast growing profile both in Lagos State and beyond because of his dogged
struggle for the attainment of constitutional democracy and the entrenchment of
true federalism in the country.
His various humanitarian programmes and
gestures and his developmental policies in the state, in the view of analysts,
would ensure that whoever he backs would win the 2007 polls. His readiness to
carry the organised private sector along in his policies has also endeared him
to the corporate community in the state.
His personal concern for the plight of
less privileged Lagosians has also won him goodwill with many people in the
state and beyond.
All these no doubt are what have triggered
speculations of his joining the presidential race.
His display of rare political acumen
helped a great deal in ensuring that the AD defeated the PDP during last year�s
general elections in Lagos State. When the carpet was swept off the feet of the
other five AD governors in the South West, Lagos withstood the storm.
The creation of 37 additional local
governments is seen as another plus for the AD in Lagos. If there is anything
the people of Lagos love most, it was the creation of new councils bringing the
number to 57. There were 20 old councils in the state. According to some
Lagosians, "by creating more local governments, Tinubu has brought government
closer to the people and brought great development to the grassroot.
From the foregoing, analysts believe that
to "capture" Lagos in 2007, PDP would really have to do something extraordinary.
In fact, the AD has a lot more working for
it in Lagos as it has a united front unlike the PDP that is rocked by internal
wranglings at the state level.
The chairman of Lagos Independent Campaign
Group, Mr Rahman Owokoniran, declared recently that "no antics of PDP would be
enough to take power away from AD in Lagos state in 2007 because AD�s grip on
power is getting stronger on a daily basis".
However, the state commissioner for the
environment, Mr Tunji Bello, in an interview recently, agreed that the PDP could
use the federal might against AD in 2007. "They could use it to rig as they did
in the other South West states last year, but we will tell them that Lagos is
different. If they try to rig in Lagos in 2007, they will pay for it. The people
are waiting for them. Let them try it", he warned.
According to Mr Bello, "even Chief Bode
George lost his ward in Lagos Island to us during the last elections. What is
now giving them the confidence that people who could not win their wards will
defeat us in 2007? Is that why they have been using FERMA to harass our people
on the roads in Lagos? In fact all the things they did about the local
government revenue were targeted at Lagos.
"But the people of Lagos know their leaders. I challenge
Ogunlewe who could not win his senatorial seat last year and Chief George to
walk the streets of Lagos and see who will be hailed and who will be booed,
whether it is Bola Tinubu or any of these PDP chieftains," Bello stressed.
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