The Peoples Democratic Party in Lagos state has emphatically stated that minister of works, power and housing, Babatunde Fashola, who was the immediate past governor of the state, would underperform.
The party further said that Fashola will fail as a minister.
The party further said that Fashola will fail as a minister.
This disclosure was made by the publicity secretary of the main opposition party in the state, Taofik Gani, in an interview with The Punch.
Gani stated that the 8-year tenure of Fashola rendered quite a number of Lagosians homeless.
The party’s mouthpiece said that Fashola had said in 2013 there was nothing like low cost housing as there is no low-cost cement or low-cost labour.
He added that Fashola demolished slums in its place built expensive estates at the detriment of the poor wondering if the minister would continue with his ‘elitist style of leadership’ even in poor areas in the country.
Gani said: “Can Fashola point to any low-cost housing scheme he did in his eight years as governor? The houses he built under the Lagos Home Owners Scheme cost about N15m on average. Can the Eko Atlantic – which cost hundreds of millions of naira to buy – be classified as affordable housing? Can Fashola be compared with former Governor Lateef Jakande who built over 20,000 housing units in four years?
“There is nothing super about Fashola. He was only compensated by President Muhammadu Buhari because Lagos contributed greatly to Buhari’s campaign.”
The PDP explained that Fashola failed woefully in the area of work during his tenure as governor saying that those works that were credited to him were done by private companies and concessionaires.
The party stressed that some of the projects implemented in Victoria Island was carried out by banks as part of Corporate Social Responsibility Programmes.
Gani said that now Fashola is in charge of the federal government infrastructures in the country, his lapses would be exposed.
He said: “Fashola was a governor that relied heavily on propaganda. Most of the projects he did were through Public-Private Partnerships while some came about through the CSR programmes of some companies.
“Projects were done by private investors and concessionaires. So, as far as we are concerned, he never merited the praises showered on him. He ran a government of mediocrity.”
The PDP mouthpiece since Fashola criticized the immediate past president, Goodluck Jonathan in March this year saying he could fix the electricity problem with a year. Gani urged Fashola to keep to his word.
Meanwhile,the Osun state chapter of the Labour Party had called on anti-graft agencies in the country to take a critical look into the malpractice allegedly perpetrated by Governor Rauf Aregbesola-led government.
