Agege Local Government Area Chairman Ganiyu Kola Egunjobi speaks on President Bola Tinubu's administration and the delay in the commencement of direct payment of allocations to local government councils. Subair Mohammed writes.
What is your assessment of President Tinubu's administration considering the prevailing economic difficulties?
I think the policies are generally good, particularly the economic reforms such as the removal of subsidies, the foreign exchange reforms that ended the fixation of the value of the naira against other currencies and the multiple exchange rates that encouraged rent seeking. Now, market forces are determining the value of the naira. This is saving Nigeria billions that were previously used to defend the important arbitrage between official exchange rates and parallel market rates. He has also stopped trading back and forth in the foreign exchange market. I agree that there are unpleasant and unintended consequences, but you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs. I am confident that Nigeria is in good hands and that there will be light at the end of the tunnel.
It has been five months since the Supreme Court ruling on local government autonomy, but the federal government is yet to start direct payment of allocations to local government areas, what is your view on this?
I am aware of the collaborative efforts between the state and federal governments to give effect to the high court ruling. Likewise, the measures of some states, particularly Anambra State, which enacted laws to maintain the status quo, joint account and the vehement opposition to this by the federal government. Come to think of it, from the beginning the Lagos council administrations have been independent of the state government to some extent. It is the reason why there are general developments in council areas in terms of infrastructure and human capital. Here in Agege, under my supervision, the council built four health centers and another two are under construction. The schools were renovated and built from scratch. We have also built roads. In most of the country, local councils are unable to finance this type of project, so it becomes the exclusive domain of state governments. But here we are, Lagos city councils are in the fight and they are also investing like crazy in human capital development.
A bill to strip Independent State Electoral Commissions of the power to conduct LG elections and vest that power in INEC has passed second reading in the House of Representatives. Do you subscribe to the move?
For me it is neither here nor there. Having INEC as the new arbiter of municipal elections has its own merit, but that is only on paper. In theory, the current situation in which the ruling parties in the states win all council elections, from the presidency to the council, would become history. However, the Nigerian factor may prevent it from achieving its objective of ensuring free, fair and credible elections among the grassroots. On the other hand, INEC has also not covered itself in glory with its performance and also has a lot to do with all the off-season elections.
Can you give us an update on the land dispute the council was involved in?
Well, the matter is subjudice before Justice Lawal of the Ikeja High Court. I do not want to be accused of contempt of court or prejudicing the court against him or his wife. Well, we have presented our defense in which the city council maintained that it is the owner of the land in question, based on irrefutable evidence. In fact, the land does not belong to me but to the council and thank God the people of Agege are leading the fight to protect their collective heritage. I have suffered a lot from this issue: subjected to police interrogations and alleged investigation by the EFCC, according to a media report.
My life is equally threatened as I regularly face smear campaigns of various kinds, including ridiculous accusations that I am uneducated and uneducated about my innocent wife and children, God knows why. I suppose the perverse effort is aimed at distracting the undiscerning public from the substance of the matter. The saying that when you fight corruption, corruption fights back is the best explanation for this situation. But it is what it is, I'm not complaining. I took an oath to serve the interests of Agege and this I have been doing for the past seven years. For your information, the council is also in court with Access Bank over the bank's headquarters located on our land at Oyin Jolami on Victoria Island.
Your term as chairman of the board is coming to an end, do you have any succession plan?
It is not in my power to choose my successor. I am not even qualified to contemplate such a thing. I am willing to be corrected; There is no local government chairman anywhere in Nigeria who is powerful enough to independently elect his successor. The anointing or whatever it is called is peculiar to governors and presidents. As they say in the local language, “they throw monkey bananas.” You may be wondering why the Lagos local government elections are just around the corner and for most of the state campaign posters of presidential aspirants and councilors are scattered everywhere except Agege. This is because we are all united, under the leadership of the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mudasiru Ajayi Obasa. There is neither PDP nor Labor Party in Agege, everyone accepts Obasa as their political and supreme leader.
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