By Monsuru Olowoopejo
Lagos State Government yesterday said President Goodluck
Jonathan and his vice; Namadi Sambo has ruled the country
for four years without any legacy to show, even as it accused
Sambo of lacking in facts on the economic viability of the
state.
The state government made the statement while reacting to
the claim by the Sambo that many residents have been fleeing
the state because of the high taxes imposed on them by the
state government.
The Vice President had made the claim on Wednesday,
December 24th, during a reconciliation meeting of the Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP governorship aspirants in Lagos.
Reacting on behalf of the State Government, the Special
Adviser to the State Governor on Information and Strategy, Mr.
Lateef Raji, lamented that under the present administration,
Nigerians have not “feel the presence of (Federal) government
even in the remotest part of the country.”
According to him, “History will not forgive them (President
Goodluck Jonathan and his Vice, Namadi Sambo) for running
a full course of four-year Presidency without any legacy. If
they lack the capacity to contend with other complex
challenges confronting the nation, they do not have to be
geniuses to plant a block of classroom or a paediatric ward in
each of Nigeria’s public primary schools or general hospitals
in the remaining five months of their tenure to at least
appease yet impressionable children.”
He added “Now that he (Sambo) is back in Abuja, he can
share his Lagos experience with his principal and impress on
him without delay that the little sunshine left out there is still
sufficient to hang fabrics out to dry.
“The lesson for the Federal Government in all of these is that if
the Presidency can summon the will power to rein in its
members and ensure that oil receipts and accruals from other
revenue heads are properly accounted for and remitted to the
Federation Accounts, Nigeria would be better and the citizens
would be happy.
“If the Federal Government had avoided situations where
individuals present claims in billions of hard-earned money
spent on hotel accommodation, air travels and all other such
excesses in diversion of public funds, the Nigerian economy
will not be in the sorry state it is today and we would all have
been better for it,” he added
Raji described the Vice President as a junior partner in
Nigeria’s uninspiring Presidency, saying “Rather than join the
gabby gang in Abuja, simple greetings and a few compliments
will do instead of making non-residential claims that are
lacking in facts.
“If it is anything to do with Lagos the State Government will
readily avail him of accurate data that could assist him to
make informed deductions.
“The Lagos State Government had for long realized that the
state, with its enormous social and economic potentials,
cannot continue to depend on the allocation from the
Federation Accounts if it must deliver on the popular
expectations. Measures were then introduced to drive
efficiency in the tax assessment and collection regimes by
effectively plugging loopholes and leakages in the system. The
result was the leap in the accruable to the coffers of the State
Government.
“With this enhanced revenue profile, the government embarked
on ambitious infrastructure upgrades to meet the critical areas
of need like never experienced before. At any given time, not
less than two hundred roads, not leaving out those of the
Federal Government, are being executed.
“The Lagos State Government is not just “doing it” on the
tube and the press; the testimonials abound all over the state
for the people to see, feel and put to use.
“Without doubt, Sambo himself would have, during this visit,
marvelled at the new look of Lagos even if he moved around
all of his time in the city flying a helicopter.
“The ordinary people even keyed into the tax system
voluntarily bringing down the cost of tax administration and
enforcement.
“Nigerians would have been better secured and the people
would feel the presence of government even in the remotest
part of the country.
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