Agbaje, Salis slam Alausa over Lagos budget delay

• APC disconnected at all levels, says Katsina ex-gov
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) standard-bearer for Lagos State, Jimi Agbaje, has flayed the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) over the delay in the presentation of the 2019 budget.

Similarly, his Alliance for Democracy (AD) counterpart, Owolabi Salis, said the delay was part of the reasons the commonwealth of Lagos must be rescued from one party and individual and return it to the people.

Agbaje asked the House of Assembly and the executive arm to bury the hatchet and save the state from socio-economic crisis.

In a statement yesterday, Agbaje said “this is the first time since Nigeria returned to civil rule in 1999 that Lagos budget would be delayed for so long.”

He insisted that the legislature, executive and leaders of APC must put Lagos first and resolve their issues amicably.

“The state is bigger than any individual and personal interest. We cannot grind the state to a halt because chieftains within the ruling APC cannot see eye to eye. They must put their differences aside and move the state forward. This begins with the immediate passing of the budget,” the PDP candidate insisted.

According to him, the unfolding drama between the state’s legislature and executive over the budget further confirmed his assertion that all is not well in the APC.

He stressed: “The bad blood generated by the outcome of the last primaries is still visible and our people are the worse for it.”

Salis added that the governorship election “is so critical and the people of the state must see it so, if they want to regain their economic, political and social freedom.”

In another development, the Coalition of Ethnic Nationalities Agenda for Atiku (CENTAA) led by Adeoye Jolaosho has warned the Igbo community in Lagos not to fall for the antics of the APC governorship flag-bearer, Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

The group’s comment was a response to Sanwo-Olu’s pledge that an Igbo person would one day be governor in Lagos.

Meanwhile, former governor of Katsina State, Ibrahim Shema, has said that the APC is disconnected at all levels and should be voted out of office.

Shema asserted that this year’s elections should not be about an individual or group of people, but the future of Nigeria.

He was speaking at the weekend in Katsina during the take-off of the PDP campaign in the state.

“APC people are disconnected at all levels. We must vote APC out. We should come out en masse to vote for PDP candidates at all levels.

“Whatever they give you, collect it and vote for PDP candidates,” he said.

The PDP governorship candidate, Senator Yakubu Danmark, said if elected, he would accord top priority to security in the state.

He wondered why the governor would come out publicly to say that the state was under security siege.