Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State
Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola Tuesday told party members that the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) presidential candidate, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu and his running mate, Mr. Fola Adeola “are true agents of positive change” that Nigerians should vote for in the April election.
He also asked President Goodluck Jonathan to explain how $500 billion profit made from oil sales in the last five years was spent, saying oil revenue did not have impact on the country’s social amenities and infrastructure that had become entirely moribund .
Fashola who expressed these views at a political campaign rally in Lagos also urged Nigerians “to throw their weight behind the Ribadu and Adeola ticket”
The governor, who was accompanied by his running mate, Mrs. Adejoke Orelope-Adefilure, told the gathering of party loyalists that the time “has come to change the destiny of our country, which is what the candidature of Ribadu and Adeola really represent considering their antecedents.
“The entire people of Nigeria irrespective of ethnic, political and religious affiliations need to rise against governance failure, which the ruling party has represented in the last twelve years.
''Ribadu and Adeola are agents of positive change. Vote for the duo of Ribadu and Adeola, who have been tested and performed creditably well in their chosen fields. This is the time to change the destiny of Nigeria,” the governor said.
On oil revenue, Fashola challenged the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, asking it to explain how $500 billion generated from the sale of crude oil in the last twelve years was spent.
The governor added that the federal government “has made $500 billion from sale. We should ask the ruling party how the revenue was spent. The roads are bad. Social amenities are decayed. Electricity is not stable. The ruling PDP has been in power for twelve years, and has not been able to make them function”.
Fashola pointed at different cases of Apapa Industrial Estate, Isolo Industrial Estate, Ilupeju Industrial Estate and Amuwo-Odofin Industrial Estate, which he said, have become moribund as a result of what he attributed to bad feeder roads, dysfunctional electric power and high cost of production, which most of the companies could not bear.
According to him, the PDP government has been in power since 1999, and has no solution to a myriad of challenges facing the country.
''It cannot even refurbish Murtala Mohammed International Airport. The time of PDP is up. We must no longer allow the ruling party to continue to lead us on the path of failure and darkness''