Lagos cannot justify N39bn loan — PDP

The Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party in Lagos State, Mr. Taofik Gani, tells TOBI AWORINDE that the Lagos State Government cannot justify the N39.4bn loan it took from the Word Bank

Governor Akinwunmi Ambode recently took a loan of N39.4bn from the World Bank for the development of Lagos State. Why is the PDP opposing it?

I say this on behalf of well-meaning Lagosians: We oppose it because there are a lot of purported loans taken on behalf of the state by previous administrations, especially the last administration led by (Babatunde) Fashola, which is now running into about N1tn in local and foreign debts. They have admitted this, as a matter of fact, but what they have refused to do is justify the loans that have not reflected in any development in the state per se. And that is enough reason for anyone to oppose further loans in this state except somebody who is going to share out of that loan. It is puzzling that these loans have been finding their way back into the pockets of private persons. We used to think that it was for the conduct of elections and we still believe that they collect these loans to conduct elections outside the state. That is why, especially when elections are approaching, they go and collect loans. What we are saying now is that the first expectation of Ambode is a book check on all the loans that have been collected on behalf of the state. The fact that one has collected a loan is one thing, and that loan must be used for the purpose it was collected. It is not sufficient for anybody to say that they collected loans and they diverted it to do something else.


How do you mean?

If a loan was collected for a road, that is, say N1bn, why should that road be worth N2bn? Why should work on that road not be complete? There are large sections of the Lagos-Badagry Expressway light rail project for which they have collected loans several times. They have also collected loans for the Eko Atlantic City project, which, ab initio, they told Nigerians, and Lagosians especially, that the state government was not going to be involved in, apart from filling the water areas. Now, we want Lagosians to be aware that those loans were collected for white elephant projects that would ordinarily not influence the lives of the masses. How would a masses-oriented government be collecting loans to build estates that cannot be less than N900m per unit? They also got a lot of loans when they started the Bus Rapid Transit and LAGBUS project. To date, the state government has not told us what profit we have from the project. We only know that they got the loan and served as guarantors, using the name of the state, but not a kobo has been declared as profit for Lagosians up till now. It has happened like that with so many projects in Lagos State.

In essence, Governor Ambode does not have any justification to get a N39.4bn loan at this stage of his administration, especially since it is too early and too spontaneous. If we are not careful, this state will continue to collect loans every three months; if in the first three months of an administration, it collects such an amount. Despite all these loans, our schools are dilapidated. Pupils no longer have confidence in public schools. For any child you find in public school, it is a necessity; they have no other option. There is no water board in Lagos State where you have the water running; it’s either it runs alternately in the afternoon or at night, or that it is contaminated. There is no adequate health care service whereby one can boast of going into a (state) government hospital and get quality health care services without paying. A good example is the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, whose compound has been divided into two: the private and public sections. Unless Ambode declares to us what he wants to use N39.4bn to do in this state, where N27bn is collected (monthly) as internally generated revenue, then Lagosians must rise up against this. This state is honestly mortgaged and Lagosians must oppose the continuity of this slavery.

If Lagos does not need a bailout from the Federal Government like some states of late, why can’t it borrow for its developmental projects?

There is no justification for the state to get any loan at this time, considering the revenue generation in the state and the support of donors. If there is any improvement in security today, it is by the Lagos State Security Trust Fund, where banks, other companies and individuals have contributed well over N39.6bn. It is not a direct action of the state government. Where is the security vote of the governor, the council chairmen and the security allocation in the state budget for each year, when it cannot be directly linked with the maintenance of security in the state? You will find a situation where concessionaires, investors, donors and the Federal Government are the people who have developed the state — all the celebrated projects in Lagos State today are done by either of these institutions. And I challenge the state government to prove otherwise: the light rail project is a concessionaire programme; the rehabilitation of schools is by donors such as Indomie who so shamed them that they were allowed to erect branded signboards. This is shameless! Where is the allocation for the education sector? Where is the allocation for the position of social service such as public transportation, when all we have in LAGBUS and BRT is a complete privatisation? The government projects in the state are more expensive. Ambode should collect loans, only if they (the government) will give Lagosians low-cost housing, good roads, quality education and health care services. But all these are not in their plans. They just want to keep collecting loans so that they can appear wealthier compared to past governors. Is that why they are governors in Lagos State? The All Progressives Congress has disgraced Lagosians enough.

But Fashola was said to have initiated and concluded the loan process. Why are you putting blame on Ambode?

That is why we are charging Ambode to show that he is indeed a saint in this. For him to have hastily accepted the loan, it is all the more proof that they all have the same agenda of just using Lagos State as a conduit. Even if Fashola had completed everything about the loan, the fact that the reason for that loan is unwarranted cannot be negated. Any governor that is prudent, well-meaning and sincere ought to stop collecting loans, when he already knows that he has a burden of local and foreign loans running into N1tn. Instead, Ambode is amassing more loans. It could even be a booby trap for him. Ambode should use the first six months to govern Lagos State using the near N27bn monthly internally generated revenue. Lagosians will even sympathise with him, since he cannot provide everything; government is a continuum. But if he continues to collect loans, knowing full well about the loans earlier collected, Lagosians will not give him any sympathy, supposing he fails. He should not say there are no resources because there are.

Ambode was elected based on his experience as a former accountant general of the state. Are you saying he is not capable of deciding what loans are unnecessary?

The experience of Ambode, if any at all, is tainted because this is the same man who was purported to have enough experience to delve into the issue of Local Council Development Areas. It was he who came up with the roadmap for what today has become a regret of local government administration. And he has come up with a diversion to say he wants to reform the local councils. He thinks Lagosians have forgotten that he came up with that road map. Whatever experience he may have is also tainted because he is a product of imposition, and if one has been imposed as an elected officer, he will have no moral justification to do the right thing. Ambode may have a sincere purpose but it cannot manifest within the circumstance of his emergence. He has godfathers which he must report to. These godfathers are not only capitalists but imperialists. These are people who have invested and will tell you that politics is all about investment. So, Ambode cannot tell me that he is supporting the loan because he wants to improve Lagos.

Ambode’s supporters have also argued that loans are inevitable if the state is to achieve a megacity status. Do you agree?

This is an insult to Lagosians. We have said it repeatedly that this megacity issue has been used to exploit Lagosians. It is not something that is celebrated the way Lagos is celebrating it. It is an automatic compliment; it is a status which the United Nations ascribes to any city that reaches a population of 10 million. Lagos is not the first city that would reach the 10-million-population mass. And all these things that are done by the UN to improve such megacities, over 45 per cent of which are direct donations by the UN to improve such megacities, are even diverted by past governments of the state. They were not used directly to improve the state. Rather, they were put in private pockets. So, it is not also expected that the megacity must attain that height within four years to the extent that Lagosians are being overtaxed at this present time. Rome was not built in a day; it was a gradual process. Is it a worthwhile expectation that because Lagos wants to attain megacity status, they go and sand-fill the beaches, our own historical monument, to be sold at N900m per house? Is that for the masses? Is that the intention of the megacity by the UN? It is unfortunate.

But the legislature approved these loans in accordance with the law. Why then is the governor to blame?

Lagosians know that we have never had a diverse House of Assembly and this is because, unfortunately for Lagosians, one party has been dominating. That party has lost a percentage of that domination. As I speak to you, this House of Assembly that has about eight members of the opposition party is not likely to support such outrageous and irresponsible collection of loans for projects that can be done within the provisions of the revenue collected by the state. It is not a justification, however, that because the House of Assembly supported a collection of loan, then it is tenable. That is not a good argument and Lagosians are not foolish to accept such arguments, especially when they know that the House of Assembly, the executive and to some extent the judiciary have always been part and parcel of the insincere governance in the state.

What then do you suggest Ambode should do in lieu of collecting loans?

Ambode should show sincerity by, first and foremost, going to do a book check on how much loans have been collected and what they have been used for. Two, he should show sincerity by blocking all the leakages. There are a lot of leakages in the state. Today, the practice of so-called democracy at the council level is to become a conduit.

I want to be clear; the PDP is not against the creation of other local government areas in the state. What we have as a blueprint is 79. What we are saying is that the idea behind the creation of a council is that such a council must be well-funded. It can only be well-funded by the Federal Government and that is the position of the constitution. But what we have now is a situation whereby the state government has deliberate reason to deny the local government of funds and then created 37 more LCDAs out of the existing 20 LGAs when there is no expansion of the state in any way. The land area of Lagos State remains the same. Eventually, where you had 20 council chairmen and vice-chairmen, you now have 57 of each. Where you had 20 personal assistants, you now have 57. It is convenient for any governor, especially during the days of a former governor of Lagos State, to just give out money for salaries, then they (governors) tell them (LCDAs) that there is no money for projects because they know that they are biting more than they can chew.