Jimi Agbaje, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial candidate in
\nLagos state, says he will free Lagos state from Alphabeta Consulting.<\/p>\n
According to Agbaje, Alphabeta Consulting receives a particular \u2014 unknown
\n\u2014 percentage of every dime Lagos earns in taxes and revenues, which he
\nsays is against international best practices.<\/p>\n
\u201cI could be here all day talking about Free Lagos. Let me start from the
\nbasic freedom of information Act, Lagos is still run like a closed shop,
\nlike a private company,\u201d Agbaje told Channels TV on Sunday Politics.<\/p>\n
\u201cLagos has refused to domesticate the freedom of information bill, so we
\ndon\u2019t know what plays out in Lagos. So we are talking of freedom to have
\naccess to exactly how they are running our government.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the last 20 years, Lagos has spent some N7 trillion, and we are asking
\nwhat have we got for N7 trillion? Are we getting value for money?<\/p>\n
\u201cOut of that N7 trillion, there is a private company that takes a
\npercentage of that N7 trillion, and we are asking, for what purpose? There
\nis private company fund collector, Alphabeta or whatever, collects that
\nmuch.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t even know what the percentage is; it could be 12 percent, 10
\npercent, it could be 8 percent.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked if the company was legal or not, he said \u201cit is not about being
\nlegal, it is about being moral, because if you tell me that of every
\namount of money that Lagos spends, there is a private company that is
\ncollecting, and I am asking, that is taxpayers money, why should it be, to
\nwhat purpose?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is against standard practice because we don\u2019t see what they are doing
\nand we don\u2019t even know what the percentage is, and I don\u2019t see value for
\nmoney, so its freedom from that.\u201d<\/p>\n
TINUBU MADE ME OFFERS
\nSpeaking of his relationship with Bola Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos
\nstate and a strong godfather in the state, Agbaje said he has no feud with
\nTinubu.<\/p>\n
He adds that Tinubu is his friend, but they disagree on principle and
\nbrands of democracy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was never a feud, I think it is very wrong to say that there was a
\nfeud, there has never been a feud,\u201d Agbaje added.<\/p>\n
Asked if it was anger that made him leave Tinubu\u2019s camp, he said \u201cit
\nwasn\u2019t about anger, it was about principle, don\u2019t forget that even after
\nthat, offers were given to me, it is not about that, it is about
\nprinciples. I don\u2019t have any feud with anybody\u201d.<\/p>\n
When asked if they are still friends, Agbaje said \u201cyes, we were political
\nassociates, we were in the same camp, and in 2007, I felt the way
\ndemocracy was being practiced by him was not the way I understood
\ndemocracy to be practiced, so I took an option to opt out\u201d.<\/p>\n
He said the All Progressives Congress guber primaries in Lagos was a
\nmockery of democracy, and since then governance has come to a near-zero in
\nLagos state.<\/p>\n
Agbaje said traffic situation has gotten worse, waste management has been
\nabandoned, and he called on Lagosians to choose between one man\u2019s Lagos
\nand the people\u2019s Lagos.<\/p>\n
Jimi Agbaje, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial candidate in Lagos state, says he will free Lagos state from Alphabeta Consulting. According to Agbaje, Alphabeta Consulting receives a particular \u2014…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34987,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-64395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n