The Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate in Lagos State, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, says in order to meet the growing demand for accommodation in Lagos State, he will make the cost of land virtually free if elected governor. Agbaje said this at a fundraising dinner titled, “An evening of interaction and dinner with Jimi Agbaje” in Lagos. He said Lagos had a housing deficit of over two million and his target was to ensure that at least 200,000 housing units are built yearly. He said:
“We have to encourage housing because Lagos will become a slum if we do not address the issue. Lagos needs over two million housing units and that is an average of getting 200,000 every year. We have to encourage people to invest in housing and that means we have to improve the issue of how you get your construction permits.
“We have got to ensure that you are able to get you C of O (Certificate of Occupancy) on time and reduce the bureaucracy involved in housing. More importantly, for those who want to get involved in affordable housing, we will throw incentives at you, and we will give you land for nearly free.”
The PDP candidate admitted that Governor Babatunde Fashola had worked in several areas but maintained that Lagos would have experienced transformation if not for “vested interests.” He said:
“We want to start a fundamental change and I think it must start from the leadership because it is not that we do not have the ideas or what we need to do but I think it means a certain type of leadership which is selfless and is more about the people than ourselves, a leadership that is free of vested interests. We can no longer run Lagos where the social, economic and political life of the state is affected by vested interests. We pledge that our leadership will not be about vested interests.”