The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial candidate for Lagos State, Dr. Abdul-Azeez Olajide Adeniran, popularly called JANDOR, has berated the state government over what he described as poor management of resources.

Jandor who stated this at a stakeholders’ meeting and official presentation of the party’s 69 candidates to media, said Lagosians are tired of the status quo and are desirous of change.

He noted that for over two decades, Lagos has been recycling only one governor, under the control of one man, stressing, “it’s high time we got the second governor, the people’s and popular governor with a breath of fresh air.”

According to Jandor, “we, the 69 candidates of the PDP, have resolved to take back Lagos from the grip of one man, who has held the state down for the past 23 years. This time it’s game over.

“We are not joking about this. We have the majority of people in the state who are tired of the present situation behind us to flush All Progressives Congress (APC) out this time around.”

He gave the following as the breakdown of the 69 candidates, which include, three Senatorial candidates: Segun Adewale, Lagos West; Wale Gomez, Lagos Central and Nicholas Akobandi, Lagos East.

Also, 24 House of Representatives candidates, which include, pop singer, Bankole Wellington, popularly called ‘Banky W’; who is the candidate of Eti-Osa Federal Constituency; 40 Lagos House of Assembly candidates and Governorship, Jandor and his running mate, Nollywood star actress, Funke Akindele.

Speaking on religious balancing of the 69 candidates, Jandor said, “it will interest you to know that of all our candidates in Lagos state, 48 per cent are Muslims while 52 percent are Christians. We are mindful of the yearnings of Lagosians and we have presented to them balanced candidates.

“Twenty-three per cent of the 69 candidates are below the age of 40. Forty-one per cent below the age of 50 and 36 per cent above the age of 50. We have come with a breath of fresh air.”

Speaking on what he will do differently if elected as the next governor, JANDOR said, “we want a breath of fresh air on our roads; in our education sector where we have over 2 million out of school children.

“Lagos is only wealthy on paper, we want to make it obvious in action. The 69 of us want to take that wealth and return it to the people. We want to elect a governor that will not need a second level of approval to get things done.

“We want an independent governor, a governor that Lagosians can call their own,” among others.” Speaking about the poor management of the state resources by the ruling APC, government, he said, “what worries us that we have a budget of N1.1 trillion, maybe it will be too premature to discuss the current fiscal year, we can discuss the previous physical year which has already closed and look at what we have done with the budget of the year 2021, that is equivalent to this one, with the fact that when we grew our internal debt between the first quarter of last year and first quarter of this year with over N273 billion.

“We also know that when this government came and gave us the budget of last year, with a projection of N60 billion IGR, at the end of the year, they reported an average of N45 billion. If you put that together with our capital receipt and federal transfer, of course, we still need some deficit to fund the budget but at the end of the year, the government reported 90 percent in terms of revenue and close to 85 percent in terms of expenditure. If we put our capital receipts and federal receipts, and IGR together, we will get an average of N45 billion and so we know that the budget cannot be funded.”

He added, “The question is where does the money go? From N560 billion, it was grown to N870 billion this year, and we are looking for N273 billion, this government has not on its own conceptualized a project and commissioned it. If you see them cutting and tape in the last three years of this administration, they have abandoned projects, especially in the housing sector, which Fashola built over the years and Ambode completed. They are cutting the tapes and painting them. Whether you have a budget of N1 trillion, the issue is where is it. Lagos is a wealthy state, but it is only on paper, we need to see that wealth on the streets of Lagos.”

He maintained that if he becomes the governor of the state, he could want to be over ambitious but with evidence on Lagos streets.

“In our case, we can say we want to be over-ambitious and do a budget of N20 trillion, then the next thing should be how to fund the budget. There are many ways you can fund a budget without stressing the people of Lagos State, without increasing their budget in terms of taxation. There is lots of money in the informal sector, we will just have to look for a way to bring in the money. We have a government that does not want to be bothered, what they are interested in doing is grounding people’s businesses in the name of multiple taxations.”

MEANWHILE, Jandor has chastised Governor Sanwo-Olu over his comment against his capacity to lead. Sanwo-Olu in a television programme had stated that Jandor was not experienced enough to govern Nigeria’s top commercial hub, saying Lagos is not a firm.

In his response, Jandor stated that powerful politicians made the career of Sanwo-Olu possible. “He has failed and we have suffered for it. It’s time for a new perspective, it is time for a breath of fresh air in Lagos.

Jandor said he was not surprised that the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Sanwo-Olu discredited his achievements and questioned his competence. He said that Sanwo-Olu was not in a position to assess him because he has never had to build a business from the ground up in Lagos.

“His entire career has been possible, thanks to the interventions of powerful patrons so he cannot possibly understand why anyone would consider being an independent entrepreneur.

The PDP chieftain told the public that Lagos is being led “by a leader who thinks it is a joke to build and sustain a business”.

Jandor recalled resigning from his role as a broadcast journalist with Lagos Television and a state house correspondent to float his media business.

“In six short years, I built my idea into a media corporation and became the youngest Nigerian to float a television station at age 37”

“I was inducted as a member of the prestigious Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria BON and became a peer of respected media entrepreneurs.

“I have diversified beyond the media, building four other successful businesses in various sectors without any exposure from any Nigerian bank.”

Jandor recalled that he was one of the outspoken party members when he was in the APC, demanding a more transparent government.

“Considering our good governor abdicated his responsibilities in the middle of serious floods in Lagos to chaperone his ailing principal during the APC campaign tours, I doubt he can say the same.

“In February 2019, a brave young woman, Derin Odugbesan asked Sanwo-Olu a pointed question during the 2019 Social Media Week about the promises he made if he was elected governor.

“It was during an election campaign like this one and many accused her of being disrespectful to the governor. They swore he was going to surprise her and all Lagosians and transform the state.

“The only surprise he has managed is in how utterly he has failed to honour his campaign promises, despite being handed over a 1 trillion naira economy. Isn’t it audacious despite his well-documented failures as governor to speak ill of my hard-earned achievement as a young man?

“Considering he has no regard for entrepreneurs or appreciation for our achievements, is it any wonder that he grew Lagos’s domestic debt stock from N507.38 billion recorded as of March 2021 to N780.48 billion in March 2022.

“Can someone who borrowed N273.1 billion naira on behalf of the state in one year with nothing to show for it, appreciate what it means to create revenue, employment opportunities and positive growth without assistance?.”
He said it was high time “career politicians like Sanwo-Olu who have fed fat from the system and no longer have any regard for hard work”, were voted out.