Lagos APC faults Economist’s opinion on Ambode

The Lagos state Chap­ter of the All Progressives Congress, APC has said that The Economist’sopinion on the performance of the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwumi Ambode is wrong headed and based on faulty assumptions that have no linkage with the reality on ground.

The party said that The Economist merely passed a judgment on a governor that has a four years renewable mandate by flashes of incidents that are not only correctable but are being corrected by the governor.

In a release in Lagos, signed by the Lagos State Publicity Secretary of the APC, Joe Igbokwe, the party said that the conclusions the magazine drew about the ca­pacity of Governor Ambode is pedestrian and is clearly in sync with the street lingo of the opposition in Lagos.

It said that Governor Am­bode is displaying a deep com­mitment to governance in Lagos that will ensure he will emerge one of the best gover­nors in this dispensation.

“We wonder how a reputa­ble institution like The Econ­omist could rush into quick judgment on the capacity of a governor elected for four years on traffic and security hitches that have traceable origins and are therefore solv­able. The traffic and security glitches have endured for few weeks and the governor has openly identified the causes and had gone cracking while, as at today, results have come in as the traffic hitches have gone down while security has greatly improved.

“ We did state last week that the traffic snarls were as a result of the governor’s directive to traffic manag­ers to be more humane and considerate in dealing with motorists. The abuse of this directive and the sabotage of the traffic officers led to in­creased traffic snarls which has made the governor to wield the big stick and ef­fect changes at the echelon of the traffic management agency. We can report today that the traffic situation has significantly improved and promises to get better in the coming days.

“We did also report that the momentary upsurge in crimes was an attempt to dare the good natured face of Ambode’s regime. The governor has not only beef up the security manpower in the state but has procured numerous security gadgets, including helicopters and raided numerous black spots in the state to deal with the is­sue. It is worthwhile that the security glitches have given way to better security of lives and properties in Lagos.

“Because The Economist­ did not go further in its anal­ysis beyond these two issues, we are minded to believe that it believes other critical sectors of governance do not matter. But we can tell The Economist and other naysay­ers that Governor Ambode is fully meeting the huge challenges of governance in Lagos. Such areas that are witnessing huge activity like road construction, employ­ment, education, infrastruc­ture maintenance, health, ju­diciary, etc are receiving the energetic attention of Gover­nor Ambode, in line with the rich governance tradition in Lagos. We want to assure The Economist that Gover­nor Ambode is fully wedded to his demanding job and is making great impact on gov­ernance in Lagos.

“We recognize The Econo­mist as a strong and dynamic institution, a reputation built over the years through dint of hard work and commit­ment. We therefore expect that The Economist should do everything humanly possible to defend this hard-earned respect and recogni­tion. It amounts to great a dis­service to this well respected institution when it goes into gutter journalism and sensa­tional publications to score cheap political points. When gold rust what will iron do?”

“Lagos APC wants to as­sure Lagosians that they have a hard working gov­ernor who has been in the system and understands the problems and prospects of the state very well. As Lago­sians have seen, the gover­nor has tremendous energy to work and has continued to traverse the state to feel the problems and direct solution to them. We want to firmly state that there is no doubt­ing the capacity of Governor Ambode to govern Lagos and at the end of the first four years, Lagosians will be the best judges.”