THIS IS A STALE NEWS BUT PUBLISHED FOR RECORD PURPOSES.TINUBU WAS NOT PRESENT DURING THIS EVENT.JUST FOR THE RECORDS.
Tinubu Boycotts as Buhari arrives Lagos to Commission Projects
The Lagos State government said yesterday that the president, during the visit, will be commissioning the projects which include the rehabilitated 10-lane Oshodi – Murtala Muhammed International Airport Road, the 170-Bed ‘Ayinke House’ (Maternity Hospital)) at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) Ikeja. Others are the Lagos State Theatre at Oregun, Ikeja, 820 mass transit buses and the multi-level Oshodi Transport Interchange along the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway.
Many questions are begging for answers over the President’s scheduled visit. The first is, why the rush by the incumbent governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, to commission projects that are yet to be completed, especially the Oshodi-International Airport Road and Oshodi Transport Interchange? Another puzzle is whether there is any political undertone associated with the development. The third identical question citizens of the state are curious to ask is if truly governance is a continuum, like the state chapter of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) claims, why can’t the incumbent governor just take his exit on May 29 and allow his successor and Governor-elect, Babajide Sanwo-Olu and his deputy, Obafemi Hamzat, to complete the propjets and then commission them when convenient?
But there are more to the issues in the state’s politics than meets the eye, especially in the last few months. It is being insinuated that Ambode may not want to play another ‘political dullard’ having been thoroughly beaten once when he was ‘unexpectedly’ denied second term ticket in the controversial governorship primaries held in October 2018. The leadership of APC thereafter went to town to rubbish his achievements, which most of them (party leaders) had earlier attested to as being fantastic and in line with the party’s agenda.
While it may be said that Ambode’s rush is being driven by some of his past actions and the possibility of the incoming administration dealing him the same blow he dealt his successor, it may also be correct to say that the politics between the presidency, the northern power brokers and Tinubu is playing out in today’s project commissioning in Lagos. It would be recalled that some APC bigwigs, especially the presidency, were uncomfortable with the way Ambode was ingloriously denied a second term by Lagos APC, especially Tinubu, whom they passionately pleaded with to restate Ambode to no avail.
From the look of things, Ambode has been playing more at the presidency since the party denied him a second term ticket than in Lagos. An inside source explained that Buhari’s visit to Lagos is part of the Abuja cabals’ decision to rally round the governor, at least to save him from complete embarrassment, “Otherwise, for almost three years the President did not bother to visit Lagos when we assumed power in 2015. So, why the hurry now when the two major projects are yet to be completed?”
An APC source confided to Huhuonline.com that the governor might have thought it wise and also expedient to take the glory of the major projects executed under his government before his exit next month “otherwise he may also be seriously dealt with like he was allegedly used to deal with his immediate predecessor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, whom he was accused of denying credit for some of the achievements recorded during his administration after he left office in 2015. The source cited the example of how Fashola was nearly not recognized by Ambode in 2015 over the commissioning and launch of Mile 12-Ikorodu Road widening and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) operation, which Fashola started but could not complete before leaving office in May 2015.
Another member of the party also explained that Ambode might also be trying to avoid the ‘law of karma’ from catching up with him, especially when considering the alleged manner in which the incumbent deliberately abandoned some of the massive projects, which Fashola started. An example is the ongoing Lagos-Badagry Expressway Expansion project, which he (Ambode) promised would be completed before the end of 2019. Obviously, nothing concrete has been done to improve the project beyond where Fashola left it.
The governor has also been accused of abandoning the yearly Climate Change Summit, which Fashola embarked on since 2007. Political pundits believe that the incumbent, despite the massive gains recorded by the summit in regards to the environment, looked the other way, either with the aim to spite his predecessor or erase some of his (Fashola) achievements. The same insinuation goes for how Ambode replaced the effective Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) with his own, Visionscape, a foreign waste management company. Tinubu was forced to disassociate himself from Visionscape and also asked Ambode to reverse himself in April last year when over 350 waste service providers staged a protest against the governor.
In order to ensure a free flow of traffic during the one-day visit, the state ministry of transportation is advising motorists to avoid the highlighted roads and make use of alternative routes. The Presidential visit will run between the hours of 9.00am and 3.00pm during which traffic along the following routes will be diverted from Mobolaji Bank-Anthony Way (coming from the Presidential Wing of Murtala Mohammed Airport to LASUTH Under Bridge).
Also affected are Kodesoh Road, Obafemi Awolowo Way, Kudirat Abiola Way, Ikorodu Road (between Ojota Intersection and Anthony Interchange), Oworonshoki-Apapa Expressway (between Anthony and Oshodi Transport Interchange), International Airport Road through the Local Wing of the airport to Mobolaji Bank-Anthony Way and back to Obafemi Awolowo Way. The State Ministry of Transportation, however, stated that the roads listed will only be cordoned-off when necessary; Obafemi Awolowo Way and portions of Mobolaji Bank-Anthony will be closed to traffic on three (3) occasions within the specified period as they are central to the President’s itinerary.
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