►Lagos State Government yesterday said President Goodluck Jonathan and his vice; Namadi Sambo has ruled the country for four years without any legacy to show, even as it accused Sambo of lacking in facts on the economic viability of the state.
►The state government made the statement while reacting to the claim by the Sambo that many residents have been fleeing the state because of the high taxes imposed on them by the state government.
►The state government made the statement while reacting to the claim by the Sambo that many residents have been fleeing the state because of the high taxes imposed on them by the state government.
The Vice President had made the claim on Wednesday, December 24th, during a reconciliation meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP governorship aspirants in Lagos.
Reacting on behalf of the State Government, the Special Adviser to the State Governor on Information and Strategy, Mr. Lateef Raji, lamented that under the present administration, Nigerians have not “feel the presence of (Federal) government even in the remotest part of the country.”
According to him, “History will not forgive them (President Goodluck Jonathan and his Vice, Namadi Sambo) for running a full course of four-year Presidency without any legacy. If they lack the capacity to contend with other complex challenges confronting the nation, they do not have to be geniuses to plant a block of classroom or a paediatric ward in each of Nigeria’s public primary schools or general hospitals in the remaining five months of their tenure to at least appease yet impressionable children.”
He added “Now that he (Sambo) is back in Abuja, he can share his Lagos experience with his principal and impress on him without delay that the little sunshine left out there is still sufficient to hang fabrics out to dry.
“The lesson for the Federal Government in all of these is that if the Presidency can summon the will power to rein in its members and ensure that oil receipts and accruals from other revenue heads are properly accounted for and remitted to the Federation Accounts, Nigeria would be better and the citizens would be happy.
“If the Federal Government had avoided situations where individuals present claims in billions of hard-earned money spent on hotel accommodation, air travels and all other such excesses in diversion of public funds, the Nigerian economy will not be in the sorry state it is today and we would all have been better for it,” he added
Raji described the Vice President as a junior partner in Nigeria’s uninspiring Presidency, saying “Rather than join the gabby gang in Abuja, simple greetings and a few compliments will do instead of making non-residential claims that are lacking in facts.
“If it is anything to do with Lagos the State Government will readily avail him of accurate data that could assist him to make informed deductions.
“The Lagos State Government had for long realized that the state, with its enormous social and economic potentials, cannot continue to depend on the allocation from the Federation Accounts if it must deliver on the popular expectations. Measures were then introduced to drive efficiency in the tax assessment and collection regimes by effectively plugging loopholes and leakages in the system. The result was the leap in the accruable to the coffers of the State Government.
“With this enhanced revenue profile, the government embarked on ambitious infrastructure upgrades to meet the critical areas of need like never experienced before. At any given time, not less than two hundred roads, not leaving out those of the Federal Government, are being executed.
“The Lagos State Government is not just “doing it” on the tube and the press; the testimonials abound all over the state for the people to see, feel and put to use.
“Without doubt, Sambo himself would have, during this visit, marvelled at the new look of Lagos even if he moved around all of his time in the city flying a helicopter.
“The ordinary people even keyed into the tax system voluntarily bringing down the cost of tax administration and enforcement.
“Nigerians would have been better secured and the people would feel the presence of government even in the remotest part of the country.
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