Oduduwa News

Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has hailed President Muhammadu Buhari for signing into law the constitution amendment bills granting states more autonomy in key areas like electricity, railways, and the judiciary, saying the move would empower Lagos to take charge of her own growth.

Sanwo-Olu made this known on his Twitter handle, describing as a historic move, the Constitutional Alteration Bill No. 33 that granted states across the country authority to regulate electricity generation, transmission and distribution.

According to Sanwo-Olu, the constitutional amendment will create a Lagos Electricity Market, leading to increased access to electricity, investments and job opportunities.

Besides, he said the new law would promote efficiency, leading to better service delivery, pointing out that Lagos State had been preparing for this by launching an electricity policy, publishing its off-grid strategy, presenting an integrated resource plan and drafting a law to establish the Lagos Electricity Market.

“A few days ago, President @MBuhari signed bills granting states more autonomy in key areas like electricity, railways, and the judiciary, empowering Lagos to take charge of our own growth.

“Thank you, Mr President. The Constitutional Alteration Bill No. 33 is a historic move that grants us authority to regulate electricity generation, transmission and distribution.

“This will create a Lagos Electricity Market, leading to increased access to electricity, investments and job opportunities.

“The new bills will promote efficiency, leading to better service delivery. We’ve been preparing for this by launching an Electricity Policy, publishing our off-grid strategy, presenting our Integrated Resource Plan and drafting a law to establish the Lagos Electricity Market,” the governor stated.

The governor assured of his administration’s commitment to achieving 1GW of solar energy in Lagos by 2030, saying towards that end, it had engaged with the World Bank for suitable funding.

“With the creation of the Lagos Electricity Market, we’ll fulfil our potential as Africa’s model mega city,” he said.

On railways, Sanwo-Olu described as a significant move in the devolution of powers in that sector under the Constitution Fifth Alteration Bill No. 32, saying it was targeted towards promoting local economic growth and development.

According to him, it will open up investment opportunities and improve the transportation of goods and services.

The governor expressed excitement about the next few years as Lagos takes more responsibility for her growth and the fulfilment of her potential, urging Lagosians to join hands to work together to make the state the best it can be.

“I’m excited about the next few years as Lagos takes more responsibility for our growth and the fulfilment of our potential.

“Let’s work together to make Lagos the best it can be!” Sanwo-Olu said.

The Lagos State PDP Governorship Candidate, Dr Abdul-Azeez Adediran (aka Jandor) says the outcome of the Saturday’s gubernatorial election is shocking and not a reflection of the party’s worth.

Adediran, who reacted to the outcome of the polls at a news conference on Monday at his Campaign Office in Ikeja, vowed to pursue the process to the end before letting out his next step of action.

Stating that an election is not an event but a process, Adediran said that residents had not seen the last of the Saturday’s poll as he was ready to follow the process till the end.

The candidate said: “It is so sad to see some leaders trying to force themselves on people.

“We need to let everyone know that Saturday’s election was the end of another process (in INEC timetable for the 2023 elections) and the process continues.

“We will know what action to take when we see the last of this process. We have not seen the last if it. Yes, a supposed winner has been declared but the election is a process not an event.

“So, we will see this to the end before we begin to say what decision are we taking as a party.

“We went into this election against all principalities in Lagos State. We ran this election against INEC, the Police, the APC and as a matter of fact, we ran against some of our leaders within the PDP.

“We feel so proud that as lone rangers, we were able to stand on our feet and put up a good fight to set Lagos free.”

Highlighting some flaws in the process, Adediran said that the Saturday’s election became like a war adding that majority of PDP agents and those of other opposition political parties were chased away from collation centres.

He said: “Everybody is Lagos saw what happened and knew what happened on the street of Lagos.

“There were voters’ suppression everywhere, intimidation, harassment, violence, some people were killed while several other harmed in the process of them trying to express or exercise their franchise.

“For us, we know that the election was already predetermined because before the election, we tried everything to ensure we bring all threats and compromises to the notice of the security formations in Lagos.

According to him, some of the INEC Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) used for the polls were already contained number of accredited voters before getting to the polling units among other infractions.

“We have cases of this in Ikoyi and Lagos West. We caught few and asked the INEC officials to clear them before election but this show that a lot happened unnoticed. Figures were allocated at the end of the day.

“We have collected enough evidence to enter into the next process. The process is ongoing and we are going to follow it to letter,” he said.

Adediran, who noted that with his brand and the amount of work he put in place, it was shocking to hear that he only polled 3,000 voter in his LGA in Ojo.

He revealed that before the poll, he was called to return to the APC when some people started moving and if he refused, he would be disgraced.

“And this what we find in the predetermined figures here and there,” he said.

The candidate explained that he ran the poll all by himself and his team, saying, “not a single N1 from the party at the state level or the national level, after Feb. 25 Presidential and National Assembly Elections.

He expressed condolences to families of those who lost their lives in the election and sympathised with those who were wounded in the process because they wanted a better Lagos.

Adediran said that he felt so proud that in the face of huge suppression and rumours about him being a mole in PDP, he had been able to justify that he was in the race to truly bring a breath of fresh air.

He added that he was still standing “even when some respected leaders, supposedly, in the party had to leave us for crumbs in the ruling party.

“We stayed behind to see this to the last. Even when some left the party to form a false alliance, we stood our ground to see this to fruition.

“I want to commend people of Lagos, all loyal PDP leaders who stayed to see that the election came to the logical conclusion,” he said.

Adediran said that if elections had been free and fair, he would have been the first to issue a congratulatory message to the winner.

He urged the “depressed and demoralised” party loyalists and followers to remain resolute, keep heads up and wait for the next decision.

“I am assuring them that at the end of this process, we will be triumph. This is not fighting anybody but exercising our constitution rights. I am here to continue to lead,” he said. — with Shakky Onilude and 3 others in Lagos.

Deputy Governorship Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Lagos State, Funke Akindele, has broken her silence on her defeat in the March 18 elections, stating that she doesn’t regret running for office.

Akindele and her principal, Abdul-Azeez Adediran aka Jandor, were defeated by the incumbent governor and All Progressives Congress candidate, Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

On her Instagram page on Monday, she wrote, “It has been an amazing and insightful experience on my journey to the ballot, and I must say, it was an absolute learning curve for me. A lot of things have been learned and unlearned. I sincerely do not regret taking this huge step of running for office.

“I, therefore, want to thank the people of Lagos state for believing in me and supporting my decision to run for office. I saw every message of support online and offline, I heard of all the places where people supported me and challenged those who tried to discredit me.

“I remember every warm welcome during our campaign tour and the faith you all showed in me. The elections might not have panned out in the way we hoped, but it was an honourable run for us. We fought a good fight indeed, as a matter of fact.

“I also want to encourage all who mean well for the Nation and the state of Lagos not to give up. I understand that some of us are beginning to develop some sort of apathy toward the system, however, if we do not speak, we will never be heard. I’m glad that we could at least speak up.”