A former governor of Jigawa State has said that President Bola Tinubu never built Lagos as acclaimed by many”as the builder of modern Lagos State”, and faulted Tinubu’s government for its inability to get things right at the federal level.
Tinubu served as the governor of Nigeria’s economic capital from 1999 to 2007. Some of his supporters credit him for laying the foundation for a modern Lagos State.
Lamido who is a member of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says Lagos being a former Nigerian capital before it was moved to Abuja enjoyed huge Federal Government presence.
Lamido said this when he featured on the Monday’s edition of Channels Television’s Politics Today.
“I know him when he was under SDP; when he was the secretary of the party. I also knew him as governor of Lagos State. I know him very well and I know his capacity, I know what he can do; I know what he cannot do. Luckily today, he is there on top of the country. He never built Lagos.
“Lagos was built with Nigerian money, I mean the port, the airport, the bridges. So, when you say Tinubu built Lagos; he never built Lagos, ” he said.
Since Tinubu took over as President in May 2023, his government has introduced a raft of reforms including the removal of fuel subsidy and the floating of the naira.
These moves have however tripled the cost of petrol, increased the cost of living, and pushed inflation figures to new highs, soaring to 33.6 per cent in April 2024.
Though the Tinubu administration is calling for patience from Nigerians and believes the policies will yield fruits soonest, Lamido has rated the present government poorly.
“The government is doing almost everything wrong,” he said on the current affairs show, faulting the Lagos-Calabar coastal road project amid the clamour for a new minimum wage by organised labour.
According to him, if the government can embark on the project and with prudent management of resources, Nigeria can easily pay a new minimum wage as demanded by labour leaders.
“There is money in Nigeria. If they do it [Lagos-Calabar coastal road], they can pay any minimum wage,” the former governor insisted.
