– There seems to be a new war between former Governor Babatunde Fashola and his successor, Akinwunmi Ambode
– The battle is in relation to a road leading to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport which is said to be in a dilapidated state
The minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babtunde Fashola, has debunked the claims by the governor of Lagos, Akinwunmi Ambode, that he is being frustrated by the federal government.
Fashola says he is not frustrating Ambode
Governor Ambode had accused the federal ministry of Works of frustrating his move to fix the very bad portion of the Lagos International Airport Road from Oshodi.
READ ALSO: Ministry of works frustrating our efforts, Ambode laments
Fashola, the immediate past governor of Lagos state, is the head of the ministry being accused by Ambode.
Fashola said the works ministry had approved several requests made by the Lagos state government.
He said he had explained the processes to Ambode when the latter called him adding that the state had refused to land for needed for the National Housing Programme.
He said his response was to ensure that the public was not misled by the state governor’s inadvertent misrepresentation of facts.
Fashola said in the statement released by Hakeem Bello that the allegations of lack of cooperation from the works ministry and frustration of Lagos state government’s development initiatives were simply not true.
“The allegations of lack of cooperation from the ministry and frustration of Lagos state government development initiatives are simply not true and the facts do not bear them out.
“In 2016, the Hon Minister for Power Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola, approved the use of the federal ministry of works yard at Oworonsoki for Lagos state government to create a lay-by to ease traffic.
“The minister also approved that Lagos state be granted the Rights to manage the street lighting on the 3rd Mainland Bridge to support the security initiatives of the state, a request which the previous federal government administration had denied Lagos state for years.
“During the same year the minister also supported the approval of the World Bank Loan of $200m to Lagos State, again a request the previous administration had denied Lagos state.
“As far as International Airport Road which is currently the ground for alleged ‘frustration’ is concerned, the correct position is that the Lagos state government presented a request for FOUR roads that it would wish to take over.
READ ALSO: Buhari’s govt has favoured South-west than other zones – Minister, Shittu
“This is consistent with the position being canvassed by the minister for states who are interested to apply to take over Roads that are within their States.
“The Ministry has presented the memorandum conveying the request of the Lagos state government to the Federal Executive Council as was done with a similar request by the Kaduna state government in 2016,” the statement made available to ZENITHBLOG.com said.
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