The Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have disagreed over the performance of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu since his assumption of office six months ago.
While the APC, which is the ruling party in the state, described the governor as a great performer who has made the state better than he met it, the opposition PDP said his performance has been abysmal while there is breakdown in all facets of governance in the state.
Speaking with Daily Independent on Sunday, Alhaji Tunde Balogun, the party chairman in the state, said he is proud of Sanwo-Olu’s performance because he had turned the fortunes of the state around within the short period he had spent in office.
He specifically commended the governor for various road rehabilitations across the state, saying majority of Lagosians who were complaining of bad roads were now happy with the ongoing rehabilitation work.
“Of course, I am very proud of his performance. He has been a great performer. Given the little time he has spent in office, he has been able to turn a lot of things around.
“Let’s talk about the infrastructure. The first challenge we had was about the traffic management and transportation in the state. In that aspect, he has been wonderful.
“Before, most people were complaining about bad roads, but now all those things are now things of the past because most roads are motorable now. He has managed the traffic situation well.
“What he did was to highlight the areas where we have bottlenecks and traffic gridlocks and address them one by one. Go round those areas today, you will find out that those potholes are no more except in few places and, in time, all those ones will be no more.
“The rains hindered him from doing a lot of road projects but we are happy now that the rain has reduced and he has been doing a lot. He has made Lagos better for all of us and has justified the mandate freely given to him by the people of Lagos,” he said.
However, speaking with Daily Independent, Taofik Gani, the Publicity Secretary of PDP in Lagos State, said contrary to Balogun’s claim, Sanwo-Olu’s performance so far had demonstrated that he was ill-prepared for governance.
According to him, “I am never impressed and no one with progressive mind would be comfortable with his abysmal delivery so far.
“Lagos has never had it so retrogressive in governance. There is breakdown in all facets of governance, yet the state is continually being ploughed into geometrically increasing needless debts. By the time Sanwo-Olu exits, he will go down as the governor of Lagos State who incurred the highest debt.
“He is obviously ill-prepared and hurriedly flaunted to deny (Akinwunmi) Ambode a second term. Again, he is the only governor of Lagos State who never prepared for it until less than five months to the general election. This is the only alibi for him.”
Also speaking on Sanwo-Olu’s rejection of ‘His Excellency’ appellation, the PDP said it was an admission by the governor that he was unworthy of the title.
“Hence, as an honourable person, we expected that he should be open to Lagosians and admit disillusionment. Recently, he was reported as declaring that he should not be referred to as His Excellency. To us his reason for declaring that is diversionary. The truth is, he is not a pass candidate not to talk of excellent.
“Indeed, the recent declaration by the governor not to be addressed as ‘His Excellency’ is a clear loss of confidence arising from the very abysmal performance of the governor which Lagosians have loudly condemned.
“To us, the governor is aware that he is only being flattered to be addressed as His Excellency.