Former Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido, has dismissed the highly praised title of President Bola Tinubu as the architect of contemporary Lagos State.
Recall that Tinubu was the governor of Lagos State from 1999 to 2007.
Truthng reports that Tinubu’s supporters and many other Nigerians believe the former governor laid the groundwork for a modern Lagos State.
However, Lamido, who belongs to the principal opposition group, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), argues that Lagos was already a capital with significant federal government involvement prior to its relocation to Abuja.
He faulted Tinubu’s administration at the national level for failing to achieve success.
“I knew him when he was under the 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 and what he cannot do. Luckily, today, he is on top of the country. He never built Lagos,” Lamido said on Monday’s edition of Channels Television’s Politics Today.
“Lagos was built by Nigerian money—I mean the port, the airport, and the bridges. So, when you say Tinubu built Lagos; he never built Lagos,” the former governor stated.
Truthng reports that since Tinubu became president in May 2023, his administration has implemented a series of changes, such as the removal of fuel subsidies and allowing the naira to fluctuate.
These actions have led to a significant rise in the price of gasoline, a surge in living expenses, and record inflation rates.
Despite the Tinubu government’s request for patience from the Nigerian people and its confidence in the eventual benefits of these policies, Lamido has given a negative assessment of the current government.
“The government is doing almost everything wrong,” Lamido 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 embarks on the project and prudently manages resources, Nigeria can easily pay a new minimum wage as demanded by labour leaders.
“There is money in Nigeria. If they do it [the Lagos-Calabar coastal road], they can pay any minimum wage,” the former governor of Jigawa State insisted.