PDP represents change in Lagos, by Assembly candidate

ROTIMI OYEGOKE, who is aspiring to the Lagos State House of Assembly on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, tells The Guardian that Lagos people are yearning for change, which his party is determined to provide.

On Major General Muhammadu Buhari

He’s behind the time, his thinking is analogue, we are in the digital age. Buhari wants to reap where he did not sow. He is known for truncating democracy, if he had allowed democracy to develop, people fought for it, wrest over power to re-install democracy and he now wants to reap. His anti-corruption stance doesn’t hold water because the people surrounding him are corrupt, if you allow people around you to be corrupt, if you tolerate it, them he must be corrupt. See the people bankrolling him, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Senator Bukola Saraki and others. How is he going to wean or distance himself from corruption? There’s nothing new or change about the All Progressives Congress (APC). When he was at his prime, he couldn’t deliver. That was why it was actually late Brig General Tunde Idiagbon that was administering the country then. Now that he’s past his prime, he cannot. He is just a stooge; some people want to gain power through the backdoor. 

APC government in Lagos

In Lagos, the people are tired of the 16 years of APC. For 16 years, they have not delivered; they hold the mass of the people in contempt. It has been government of the rich, of the elite. PDP is going to win or form the next government in Lagos. People are wise to their tricks. There has nothing to show for over N4 trillion they earned from the Federal Government and Lagos is the highest indebted state in the states. Their non-performance is glaring when compared with Akwa Ibom State Governor Godswill Akpabio built international airport, world-class stadium, roads that can last for over 25 years. How many foreign direct investments (FDI) did Governor Raji Fashola bring to Lagos? They prefer to shift attention to the Federal Government, forgetting that is why the states and Local Governments were created-to be the hub of development. Their programmes are for the rich; build expensive houses that low and middle-income people cannot afford. They would rather sand fill an area, build and share among themselves.

Let’s take the issue of the Lagos State University (LASU) case. Reversing their earlier increase in school fees is a political gimmick, knowing it is close to election time.

Their policies discourage investments. Their case of multiple taxations is well known. Businessmen are now thinking of taking their business elsewhere where there would be incentives. That’s why prices of products, goods and commodities are expensive in Lagos. Traders’ wares/goods are seized any home and this has led to untimely death of people. Seizing motor cycles (okadas) and crushing them is sheer wickedness. Lagos State Government policies have ruined the lives of many families. This is not what government is for. Government ought to have human face. By the grace of God, a PDP government will reverse all these situations. A PDP government in Lagos will be one that will govern with compassion, love and fear of God and would deliver the greatest good to the greater number of people.

Destruction of PDP posters

We believe members of the ruling party are behind the destruction of our posters, especially in my area at Ifako Ijaiye Constituency 2. All our posters including that of PresidentGoodluck Jonathan to our governorship candidate, Jimi Agbaje, others and myself are being defaced, removed or they paste theirs on top. For example, form Pen Cinema to Iju Road, College Road to Excellence Hotel, Ogba and adjoining streets have been destroyed.

Godfather factor  

There’s no godfather factor in the PDP. Jimi Agbaje and all other candidates are their own men. If you look at it, if this factor exists in PDP, President Jonathan would not have had problems with former President Obasanjo. In fact, Lagos people wanted Agbaje because the public wanted someone new, fresh and brimming with wonderful ideas and programmes. That is why he won the party primaries.