By Baron Ike and Chinyere Aruogu
The rift between Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State and his predecessor, Babatunde Raji Fashola is deepening by the day, Armadanews.com investigation can reveal.
Babatunde Raji Fashola
The covert rift became more pronounced last week when Fashola, now Minister of Power, Works and Housing shunned the invitation extended to him by his successor for the State Dinner party to mark the 50th anniversary of the creation of Lagos State. All former governors, military and civilian, were appropriately invited with their spouses, according to Ambode’s aides.
There has not been love lost between Ambode and Fashola, a development that was said to have stretched years back when Ambode was relieved of his position as the State’s Accountant General by Fashola over official differences.
Lagos State Government sources told us that Fashola was duly invited to the dinner like other former governors and stakeholders but he chose to stay away. Neither Fashola nor his wife, Abimbola honoured the invitation.
“He was duly and respectively invited but he decided not to attend for reasons best known to him,” one of Ambode’s aides who craved anonymity told Armadanews.com on Tuesday, May 30, adding that “it was shocking to everybody, including the governor.”
During his tenure, Fashola was best described as the poster boy of Nigerian politics because of his perceived sterling performance as governor. But the coming of Ambode who was sacked by Fashola over incompetence seems to have diminished his outing, as Lagosians rate Ambode far above Fashola in terms of their performance.
In March this year, Ambode hit Fashola below the belt when he alleged that the minister was disrespecting the directive given by President Muhammadu Buhari on a Presidential Lodge Marina Lagos, as well as frustrating his desire to get the Oshodi-Airport road that leads to the Muritala International Airport fixed.
Specifically on Wednesday, March 8, Ambode alleged that his administration’s plan to carry out a total reconstruction of the International Airport Road from Oshodi was being frustrated by the Federal Ministry of Works.
Ambode said the present state of the Muritala Muhammed International Airport Road was a national disgrace and required immediate attention to salvage the nation’s image, but that the ministry was not helping matters even though Lagos State Government presently has a design for the reconstruction of the road as well as the funds to embark on the project. All he said he wanted from the Federal Government was to grant approval.
Ambode had said: “The road linking Oshodi to the International Airport, you would all agree with me is a national embarrassment. In the spirit of the regeneration and urbanisation that this administration has set out to achieve, we believe strongly that the image that is exhumed by the decadence of that road must be repaired and we took it upon ourselves to appropriate the 2017 budget that the House of Assembly should approve the total reconstruction of the Airport Road from Oshodi to the International Airport.
“The State currently has a design of 10 lanes to come from Oshodi to the International Airport with interchange and flyover that would drop you towards the Local Airport. The contractor is already set to go and everything as I said has been completed and we already have the cash, but alas we are having challenges with the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing. This is a Federal and not a State road. The Federal Ministry of Works believes that they should do the road, but they have not been able to do it all these years past.”
Ambode had said despite that the Federal Government was indebted to Lagos to the tune of N51billion, which was spent on repairing Federal roads over the years, the State Government’s effort to immediately transform the Airport Road to world class standard was being frustrated.
Ambode has also said if given the approval, his administration was ready to hit the ground running and begin construction of the Airport Road within two weeks and finish same within a period of six months.
The Governor had also expressed frustration that six months after Buhari approved the handover of the Presidential Lodge, Marina, the State Government was yet to gain access into the premises.
He said the inability of the State Government to access the Lodge was seriously frustrating the programmes outlined for the Lagos @ 50 celebrations.
His words: “One of the key venues that we need to celebrate the real essence of Lagos, the historic place that we refer to as Presidential Lodge is still more or less being tossed about in terms of being handed over to us. We believe strongly that by May 27, 2017, we should be able to invite Mr. President and other people who have actually made Lagos what is it today to that Presidential Lodge for the final Banquet and Dinner to mark Lagos at 50.
“As we speak, we are yet to gain entrance into that place and this is frustrating our programme. So I want to use this medium to appeal and say that the approval of Mr. President should be rightly honoured and the agencies concerned, that is the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing and the Security Services should honour that promise by Mr. President. We just believe strongly that we must proceed to gain access into that place so that we can roll out our programmes for Lagos at 50.”
But Fashola would not take any of that, particularly the claim that his ministry was frustrating Ambode.
On Thursday, March 9, through a lengthy statement issued by his media adviser, Hakeem Bello, Fashola said rather than claim of frustration, his ministry has instead favoured Lagos State in several ways. He spoke through a statement by his media, Hakeem Bello.
Bello said: “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 mis-statements. 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 Minisiter for States who are interested to apply 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 Councill 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 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. After the approval by Mr. President that the Presidential Lodge be handed over to the State Government, there was a directive to the Ministry to work out the modalities for handing over.
“The Ministry has prepared a vesting instrument to convey the transfer and all that is needed is a survey plan. 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. Access to the lodge is not under the control of the Ministry.
“The motive behind this public accusations must therefore be scrutinized coming barely a week after the Governor spoke with the Honorable Minister, Mr Babatunde Fashola SAN on the outstanding requests of the State for several minutes and the Minister took time to explain the situation of things to the Governor. (The first telephone conversation the Governor has had with the Minister since May 29, 2015).
“If there is any lack of co-operation it is on the part of the State Government that has refused to acknowledge not to talk of approving the Ministry’s request for Land of the National Housing Programme in Lagos. The Ministry is not frustrated by this lack of response and remains optimistic that a response will come from Lagos State.
“The Ministry remains committed to serving the Government and Good People of Lagos and will treat all their requests on Merit and in accordance with necessary due process as will be done to other States.
“As far as the refund of N51billion is concerned this is not a new item. Almost all if not all states have these claims and the Federal Ministry of Power Works and Housing has verified these claims. What is left is the process of raising the finance to pay the Debt owed to the States. Those who are familiar with the workings of Government will attest to the fact that it is an intricate sequence of processes, consultation and collaboration. Equating processes to a lack of co-operation is therefore akin to creating a storm in a tea cup.”
Regardless of Fashola’s claims, Ambode on Wednesday, May 31 announced has got the go ahead of the Federal Government to fix the Lagos International Airport Road from Oshodi.
Ambode made the disclosure in a statement by the Secretary to the State Government, Tunji Bello, adding that the approval was a 50th birthday gift to the state.
Acting President Yemi Osinbajo was said to have granted the permission to Lagos State Government to embark on a total reconstruction of the International Airport Road stretching from Oshodi.
The governor commended Osinbajo’s “statesman-like approach” to issues and for fast-tracking the process.
Ambode said: “We are very appreciative of the good gesture of His Excellency, the Acting President for acceding to our request which is not only very timely but a very heartwarming one. Posterity will never forget this genuine developmental action.”
He had described the approval as a further demonstration of the determination of the present administration to ensure the effectiveness of the Executive Order on improving the Ease of Doing Business recently signed by the Acting President.
Ambode also gave kudos to Buhari for providing the enabling environment to attract Foreign Direct Investment into the nation, adding that with the upgrading of the International Airport Road which is the gateway to the nation’s commercial nerve centre, the country will attract new investments.
Fashola, sources said, may not have forgiven Ambode for going public with his claim of being frustrated by his ministry. The thinking of the former governor, we learnt, was that Ambode had assess to him and could have engaged him on the matters he went public privately if he did not have an axe to grind.
Efforts to get Fashola to speak on why he shunned the dinner was not successful as his aides neither picked their calls nor replied to text messages sent to them.