Mr. Babatunde Fashola, the minister of works, power and housing, has
denied allegations that his ministry is frustrating Akinwunmi Ambode, his
successor as governor of Lagos.
Ambode had alleged that the state’s attempt to take over the
presidential lodge in Lagos after President Muhammadu Buhari’s approval
has been stalled by the ministry.
He also said the state’s application to reconstruct the international
airport road from Oshodi has been frustrated by the ministry.
In a statement issued on Thursday by Hakeem Bello, media aide to Fashola,
the former governor denied all the allegations, revealing that Ambode’s
phone a week ago was the “first telephone conversation the governor has
had with the minister since May 29, 2015″ when he handed over the power to
his successor.
Below is the full text of the statement
The attention of the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing has been
drawn to certain statements credited to the Governor of Lagos State, Mr
Akinwunmi Ambode claiming that the “Federal Ministry of Works” has been
frustrating the efforts of his administration to carry out a “total
reconstruction of the International Airport Road from Oshodi.”
The Governor also reportedly accused the “Federal Ministry of Works and
Housing” and Security Services of denying the State Government access to
the Presidential Lodge in Lagos six months after President Muhammadu
Buhari approved it off for the State.
This response is to ensure that members of the public are not misled by
deliberate or inadvertent mis-statements.
The allegations of lack of cooperation from the Ministry and frustration
of Lagos State Government development initiatives are simply not true and
the facts do not bear them out.
In 2016, the Hon Minister for Power Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Raji
Fashola, SAN, approved the use of the Federal Ministry of works yard at
Oworonsoki for Lagos State Government to create a lay-by to ease traffic.
The Hon Minister also approved that Lagos State be granted the Rights to
manage the Street Lighting on the 3rd Mainland Bridge to support the
security initiatives of the State, a request which the previous Federal
Government administration had denied Lagos State for years.
During the same year the Hon Minister also supported the approval of the
World Bank Loan of $200m to Lagos State, again a request the previous
administration had denied Lagos State.
As far as International Airport Road which is currently the ground for
alleged “frustration” is concerned, the correct position is that the Lagos
State Government presented a request for FOUR roads that it would wish to
take over.
This is consistent with the position being canvassed by the Hon Minister
for States who are interested to apply to take over Roads that are within
their States.
The Ministry has presented the Memorandum conveying the request of the
Lagos State Government to the Federal Executive Council as was done with a
similar request by the Kaduna State Government in 2016.
Due to the fact that TWO of the roads also connect Ogun State, the Federal
Executive Council could not reach an immediate decision on them because it
requested the input of the other State Government affected.
The Kaduna State Government requested the Federal Government to transfer
two roads within Kaduna Metropolis to the State in November 2015. Due
process was followed and the request of the State Government was approved
in August 2016, a period of ten months.
Federal Executive Council Memorandum are debated and commented upon by all
members and in cases of roads, surveys, maps and other material have to be
provided to assist members understand the location and connectivity of the
roads, (in this case Four roads), in order to assist how they vote on the
Memorandum.
As far as the Presidential Lodge is concerned, it is under the management
of the Presidency and not the Ministry.
After the approval by Mr President that the Presidential Lodge be handed
over to the State Government, there was a directive to the Ministry to
work out the modalities for handing over.
The Ministry has prepared a vesting instrument to convey the transfer and
all that is needed is a survey plan.
The Presidential Lodge is a high security location and officials of the
Ministry also require security clearance to enter in order to do any
works.
Access to the lodge is not under the control of the Ministry.
The motive behind this public accusations must therefore be scrutinized
coming barely a week after the Governor spoke with the Honorable Minister,
Mr Babatunde Fashola SAN on the outstanding requests of the State for
several minutes and the Minister took time to explain the situation of
things to the Governor. (The first telephone conversation the Governor has
had with the Minister since May 29, 2015).
If there is any lack of co-operation it is on the part of the State
Government that has refused to acknowledge not to talk of approving the
Ministry’s request for Land of the National Housing Programme in Lagos.
The Ministry is not frustrated by this lack of response and remains
optimistic that a response will come from Lagos State.
The Ministry remains committed to serving the Government and Good People
of Lagos and will treat all their requests on Merit and in accordance with
necessary due process as will be done to other States.
As far as the refund of N51Billion is concerned this is not a new item.
Almost all if not all states have these claims and the Federal Ministry of
Power Works and Housing has verified these claims.
What is left is the process of raising the finance to pay the Debt owed to
the States.
Those who are familiar with the workings of Government will attest to the
fact that it is an intricate sequence of processses, consultation and
collaboration.
Equating processes to a lack of co-operation is therefore akin to creating
a storm in a tea cup.