4th March, 2023
The President of Pro-Nigeria Group, Lai Omotola has said the governorship seat of Lagos is not for jokers who knew nothing about governance and the cosmopolitan nature of the state.
Omotola spoke at a news conference in Maryland, Lagos on Saturday on the forthcoming governorship election in the state.
He said there was the need to save Lagos from wicked conspiracy theories prepared to attack the giant strides development in the State.
“Since 1999 that we commenced our democratic journey, we have seen four governors elected to lead us. From Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to Raji Fashola and Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode and presently Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu. From one election cycle to another, aspiring to the seat of Governor has been competitive and in all occasions the progressives have always come out victories.
“In the recently concluded presidential election, the result did not turn out as expected and a careful study of the indices have shown mistakes on our part and those mistakes will be corrected,” he said.
He said since the governorship and house of assembly elections were coming, there had been concerted efforts by mischief makers to derail the development path of Lagos State, as they had provided minnows as alternative to progressive government.
“They are asking for a change of government not rooted in any genuine facts. For the avoidance of doubts under the leadership of Mr. Babajide Sanwwo-Olu, Lagos is working and is working very well. There is no state in Nigeria that can beat Lagos in all areas of developmental indices.
“This is Lagos where entrepreneurs thrive, where entertainment has been shot to the global level. This is Lagos with capacity to carry your dreams; no matter how big, there is space for every one. This is the London and Dubai of Nigeria, come and see the wonders of Lagos in our towers to iconic infrastructure. Lagos leads on all indices,” he said.
According to Omotola, the reason for this success was because the leadership had grown organically which meant every government had been an insider.
He added: “That has been part of the developmental blueprint, never have we elected an outsider. Therefore, if anyone is to lead this centre of excellence, we should interrogate the person’s experience and expertise in both public and private service. What have you been able to do for yourself and the state? What is the balance sheet of the company you have led? What projects have you executed that we can see? Has your competence and capacity been tested?
“Presently, young stars that have no history want to take over Lagos. As a major stakeholders with multibillion investment in Lagos, we will not sit idly by. This is not for jokers.
“It is time for Lagosians to be serious and should not take the successes recorded in Lagos for granted. Lagos receives over 150,000 migrants on daily basis. There is a master plan on ground, these people coming know nothing about this. This is not the seat for jokers. These individuals have no brand and Lagos can’t get any value from them.”
Omotola explained that in Lagos today, government had moved from constructing bridges that carried vehicles and trucks to now constructing elevated tracks for railway, saying there is nowhere in Nigeria this had ever been done.
“No states in Nigeria have been able to achieve these feats. This is Lagos that is home to the biggest refinery in the world, no state has been able to accommodate the biggest petrochemical refineries. There is no state, no matter how large the sea may be, that has a deep sea ports, commissioned, operational,” he said.
In the light of the happenings in Lagos, Omotola said the seat of governance must not be left in the hands of dullards, non-starters and people who have no vision on how to reposition the state to greater height.
According to him, he sees no alternative than Governor Sanwo-Olu in next weekend’s governorship election, calling on Lagosians to vote massively for him and not for jokers.