Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State says the Federal Government is irresponsible for its inability to properly account for the nation’s oil revenue, even as his Edo State counterpart, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole said Nigerians must vote out the PDP for failing to provide electricity after 16 years in the saddle.
Speaking on Friday at the commissioning of the 8.5km Amedokhian-Ugboha road as part of projects commission to mark the 6th anniversary of the government of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, Governor Fashola said: “We have a national government that is unable to account for money for crude oil that they did not extract; it is the white people that is extracting it for them. The price is fixed internationally, the quantity is known, just to add up and tally. They say it is twenty billion that is missing, some say ten billion. Should one dollar have been missing in any responsible government? So that is why corruption and accountability is an issue in the next election.”
On the 8.5km Amedokhian-Ugboha road built by the Oshiomhole administration, Fashola said: “If a government at the state level that collects one over ninety six percent, because what the state gets is that the thirty six states and Abuja share nine percent of the total revenue. And they can do this kind of roads and all the red roofs that I have seen, imagine what will happen if you have a president and vice president that cares”, he said.
He said: “The story of this road is the celebration of a community that has put its votes in support of a party that used to be the party in opposition. A community that has renewed its social contract to depart from a party that has deceived them and embrace change; a community that has seen what change is if people vote right.
“This road will benefit the pedestrian, it will benefit the car owner, it will benefit the motorcyclist, it will benefit the farmer and produce buyer and the market women. This is the economy of development. This road facilitates transport, it facilitates trade, it facilitates health care delivery and this really is the heart of democracy.
“Government that builds roads does not build roads simply because they want to build roads. They are governments that understand that a community or society cannot be bigger than its infrastructure and the wider the roads the bigger the prosperity that comes to that community.
On his part, Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State stressed the need for the people to vote for the APC at all levels as the PDP has failed to provide the basic facilities needed by the people.
He said: “I need you to connect with this election. There are no miracles in development. It is about planning, it is about commitment, it is about honesty it is about judicious application of resources. PDP’s only resolve is to steal. Sixteen years of PDP, Nigerians have no water, no light they are still using generators. In the name of privatization they handed over electricity in Edo to their friends; they are collecting money from you without light.”
Oshiomhole said “the elections are around the corner we must elect the House of Assembly that will support the appropriation of funds to continue with any of the jobs that we will not be able to do .That is why this coming election is very important
“The import of electing responsible people to the House of Assembly should not be lost on you. There are people who are there only for money. They will ask the governor to bring the money to share rather than build roads, our people need to understand that. Understand that membership of the house of assembly is not a small job.
“The other party, the PDP, over the years found that election rigging is easier in communities that are not accessible. So they benefit from their own criminal neglect of providing infrastructure particularly access roads to rural communities. I am a believer of even development and for me central to rural development and to consign poverty to history, it is important we invest in rural infrastructure particularly road network.”
