A day after the Lagos State governor accused the Federal Ministry of
Works of frustrating some of his plans in Lagos State, the minister has
replied.
In a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES on Wednesday,
Governor Akinwunmi Ambode accused the federal ministry of two things: failure
to allow the state government rebuild the Oshodi road that leads to the Lagos
Airport and failure to ensure the proper handover of the Presidential Lodge in
Lagos to the state government as directed by President Muhammadu Buhari.
On Thursday, the Works minister, Babatunde
Fashola, who is Mr. Ambode’s predecessor as Lagos governor, denied the
allegations.
In a statement by his spokesperson, Hakeem
Bello, Mr. Fashola said his “response is to ensure that members of the public
are not misled by deliberate or inadvertent mis-statements” of the Lagos
governor.
The minister explained that the request of the
Lagos government to take over the Oshodi-airport road, as well as three other
federal roads in the state, was still being discussed at the Federal Executive
Council.
“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 to understand the
location and connectivity of the roads, (in this case Four roads), in order to
assist how they vote on the Memorandum,” Mr. Bello said.
On the presidential lodge, Mr. Fashola’s aide
said it was currently being run by the presidency and that his ministry was
working with relevant security officials for the handover.
“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,” he said.
Mr. Bello, who listed some other areas the
works ministry has cooperated with the Lagos government, then questioned his
successor’s motive for the allegations.
“The motive behind these public accusations
must, therefore, be scrutinized coming barely a week after the
Governor spoke with the Honourable Minister, Mr. Babatunde Fashola SAN on the
outstanding requests of the state for several minutes …”
Read
the works minister’s full reaction below:
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 misstatements.
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 in applying 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 to 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.
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