Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode on Saturday lauded his
predecessor in office and Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr.
Babatunde Fashola for his achievements during the eight years he spent
as Governor of the State.
Governor Ambode, who spoke when he received Fashola and some top officials of the Ministry on a courtesy visit at the Lagos House, Ikeja, described the visit as historic, adding that it was gratifying to receive the Minister for the first time at the Lagos House, Ikeja since he left office on May 29, 2015.
Governor Ambode, who spoke when he received Fashola and some top officials of the Ministry on a courtesy visit at the Lagos House, Ikeja, described the visit as historic, adding that it was gratifying to receive the Minister for the first time at the Lagos House, Ikeja since he left office on May 29, 2015.
He
said: “On behalf of the people of Lagos State, I would like to
wholeheartedly welcome Mr. Babatunde Fashola, my predecessor and now
Minister for Works, Power and Housing and especially back to the Alausa
office where he actually left about 22 months ago.
“I want to
say that this is a historic moment for us, notwithstanding that the
Honourable Minister lives in Lagos, this is the first time he is
stepping his feet into the Alausa premises and we need to honour him for
that and say a big thank you for coming back home.”
Governor
Ambode also lauded Fashola for serving the State meritoriously, saying
that his administration improved on the template already laid down
during the previous administration.
“We want to say that
whatever it is that we have done in the last 22 months is just more or
less a fall out of the great achievements the former governor had
already put in place.
“We have decided that we would carry on
with a sense of continuity in all the things that have been done. I had
always said that what we wanted was this continuity of the last 18
years, but continuity with improvement and we are happy that all that
has been done in the last 22 months is just a continuation of the
template the former Governor left behind.
“We are happy that
the sense of collaboration that we have expressed here is what we
believe can carry whatever it is that Lagos stands for, moving forward.
As you may be aware, Lagos is celebrating its 50 years of existence this
year.
“The last 18 years has been so dramatic and historic
in terms of the growth and development that we have seen in Lagos,
commencing from 1999 when Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu came into office and
the eight good years spent by you and the two years we have done. So,
obviously, there is a remarkable change between 1999 and now,” Governor
Ambode said.
The Governor also pledged to expand the existing
collaboration with the Federal Government, saying that it would not
only benefit Lagosians, but Nigerians in general.
He assured
that the requests made by the Minister in regard to Housing projects of
the Federal Government and other road construction would be accelerated,
while also expressing optimism that the debts owed Lagos would be
refunded.
“I continue to say that we would support the
Minister in every way that is possible, everything that we have actually
talked about in terms of debt by the Ministry as it relates to
projects, the Minister is actually more vast than me in these areas and
in this agitations having done the same thing for eight years, obviously
he is not somebody that we would want to convert to our passion or our
request because he used to be part of what we have always asked for,”
Ambode said.
Earlier, Fashola who described the visit as
home-coming for him, said he had come with his team to Lagos as part of a
nationwide project monitoring exercise to inspect the job done so far
on Federal Government projects.
He assured that the Ministry
had made representations to the Federal Executive Council on modalities
to pay debts owed State Governments including Lagos State for
rehabilitation of federal roads over the years, saying that the debts
would be paid through bond instrument.
The Minister also expressed readiness to assist Lagos State power initiative, especially in the rural areas.
It
would be recalled that Governor Ambode recently set machinery in motion
to attain 24-hour power supply through generation of 3,000 megawatts of
electricity by 2022.
SIGNED
HABIB ARUNA
CHIEF PRESS SECRETARY
MARCH 25, 2017
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