Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, says the state government supports the position of the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, on the issues of devolution of powers and the need to entrench true federalism.
Governor Ambode stated this today (Tuesday) at a town hall meeting held at the SUBEB Proposed Permanent Site in Kosofe Local Government Area of the state.
“I support true federalism; I support all the issues raised by Asiwaju (Tinubu); we are on the same page. That is the page of APC; that is where we are and that is what we are committed to,” he said.
Tinubu, a former governor of the state, had recently stressed the need for devolution of powers and for the nation to truly adopt the practice of true federalism, saying it was the surest way to correct Nigeria’s power imbalance and quell the agitations for secession.
Ambode also said on Tuesday that the clamour for restructuring across the country was not out of place as the current political structure was seriously hindering Nigeria’s development.
“Like I have always said, we need to deal with issues that relate to devolution of powers; like somebody said, if I have more resources, all these items that you are coming to raise here… once you raise it, I will just say done,” he said.
“So, why should somebody be saying they are the ones in charge of inland waterways when the waterways are transporting my own people and my own services and when there is a law about it,” he questioned.
The governor also wondered why there were still attempts from the central government to regulate hotels and entertainment centres in the state, despite the existence of Hotel Occupancy and Restaurant Consumption Law enacted by the Lagos State House of Assembly.
He, however, described the situation as an anomaly that should be addressed accordingly, saying “we enacted a law and somebody says he wants to do another law that regulates hotels inside Lagos.”
“That is what devolution of power is saying. If these things are on the residual list, let local government and states deal with them; that is all that we are asking for,” Ambode added.
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