Hottestgistnaija.com
· Says President has consistently lied to Nigerians about issues that affect their lives
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, SAN, Monday outlined reasons why President Goodluck Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-controlled Federal Government must be voted out in this year’s general elections saying the President has consistently lied to Nigerians about issues affecting their lives.
Addressing a capacity crowd of Party Chieftains, supporters, and stakeholders at Alimosho in continuation of the Statewide Gubernatorial Campaign of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the State, Governor Fashola said the President had lied about everything including electricity, security, and the economy adding that he has also taken steps to stifle the truth.
Beginning with electricity, the Governor, who recalled that President Jonathan promised Lagosians in 2011 to make electricity available to them, noted that without fulfilling that promise, the President later lied in a programme on Cable News Network (CNN) that the people of Lagos were enjoying constant electricity.
According to him, soon after the President made that statement, he visited Lagos and as he was speaking in a church about the stable electricity supply in Lagos, the electricity in the Church went off due to power cut by the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), thereby faulting his claims.
On the case of the kidnapped school girls from a Chibok secondary school by the Boko Haram terrorists, Governor Fashola recalled that shortly after the news broke out, the Military claimed that they had rescued the girls but when Nigerians demanded to see the girls, the Military again said the girls were not kidnapped.
The Governor said the most distressing aspect of the issue was when President Jonathan was advised to visit the parents of the girls and console them soon after the kidnap, the President refused and instead decided to invite the aggrieved parents to Abuja, an action which he described as un-African.
“When someone is in distress or bereaved, sympathizers go to visit and console him or her and not the other way round. In Africa and in Nigeria, we go and visit the bereaved to sympathize with them but our President said they should come and visit him instead; is this our custom?” the Governor asked.
Wondering how a man with such an unresolved issue as the kidnap of over 200 children on his conscience would wish to stand for election to preside over the affairs of the country, Governor Fashola declared, “More than 230 children are missing and he is contesting election, if they were his daughters would he be contesting?”, adding that there were many other lies that followed the missing girls.
“The Military told Nigerians that they located the girls in one forest and when Nigerians demanded that they go and bring them out they said they could not enter the forest. Then after they said they had signed a peace accord with Shekau and since then they have for five times claimed to have killed Shekau, yet Shekau is alive”, the Governor said.
He recalled also that when Boko Haram first started, the President accused General Muhammadu Buhari of being behind it, but later said Boko Haram was in his government and yet again accused some African countries of being the cause adding that the President finally said it was the All Progressives Congress (APC) that was behind it.
Pointing out that the President’s lies have become too many, Governor Fashola, who said the President later said he signed a ceasefire with Boko Haram, asked, “Can you sign a ceasefire with people you can’t see? Jonathan must tell us where Boko Haram is. He has blamed everybody except himself and yet he is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria”.
On the Economy, Governor Fashola recalled the issue of the missing $20 billion, pointing out that when former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, revealed the issue the President sacked him adding, “They sacked the one who told the truth and retained the one that is telling them lies”.
“They have doctored that amount from $20 billion to $1.4 billion. If you multiply this with the current rate of Naira to a Dollar which is N210 to $1, what you get is over N290 billion. The Ikoyi-Lekki Link Bridge was built at N29 billion only; so that money could build ten Lekki-Ikoyi Link bridges. The Burj Khalifa in Dubai was built for $1.5 billion. That is what our government lost”, the Governor said.
Noting that the Jonathan administration has looted Nigeria more than any other government before it, Governor Fashola declared, “It is time for them to go and they must go”.
The Governor urged Lagosians to continue the house-to-house campaigns and rallies in preparation for the general elections saying no matter how long the Jonathan administration decided to postpone the elections, the change momentum has already commenced and would sweep the administration out.
The Governor thanked the people of Alimosho for their consistency since 1999 in supporting the party of the progressives, starting from when it was known as the Alliance for Democracy (AD) down to the Action Congress (AC) and now the All Progressives Congress (APC).
He said some of the projects in Alimosho which the State Government started and has completed include the Abule Egba -Ekoro Road, the Karimu Laka road, the LASU- IBA- Igbo Elerin road, Alimosho School of Nursing, the Maternal and Child Care Hospital, the Igando Housing Scheme and the Egan- Igando Housing Scheme amongst several others.
Addressing the crowd earlier, the APC Gubernatorial Candidate for Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, urged the people to be steadfast and more determined in their campaigns and rallies for Change at the centre, adding that it is only the elections that has been shifted but the people’s destiny cannot be shifted.
He added that Nigerians are resolved more than ever before to change the party at the centre and that Nigerians were poised to show love to General Muhammadu Buhari on February 14 but would now march on for Buhari to the Aso Rock Villa.
He said the APC would also increase the tempo of its campaigns to reach all those who have not been convinced yet on the need to join the train for change at the centre by campaigning from house to house and from neighbourhood to neighbourhood.
He reiterated his determination to create an Employment Trust Fund that would provide little capital that would make job seekers become employers of labour, adding that jobs would also be created for the aged people while women and the widows would not be left behind.
The Chairman of the State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, (APC), Chief Henry Ajomale had earlier presented the party flag to the candidates for the various offices including Mr Solomon Olamilekan for Senate, Mr Femi Adebanjo for the House of Representatives, Alimosho Federal Constituency, Mrs Omotayo Oduntan and Hon Bisi Yussuf for the two State House of Assembly Constituencies in the Local Government.
The well attended rally was witnessed by dignitaries including the Deputy Governor, Hon (Mrs) Adejoke Orelope- Adefulire, members of the State Executive Council including the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Lateef Ibirogba, wife of the gubernatorial candidate, Mrs Bolanle Ambode and the running mate to the gubernatorial candidate, Dr (Mrs) Oluranti Adebule and several other party leaders.
