The Secretariat of the National Good Governance Tour (NGGT) led by Minister of Information, Labaran Maku has pilloried Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola for his pretentious comments on the Good Governance Tour spearheaded by the minister and some Federal Government staff.
The secretariat described as unfortunate, the claim by Lagos State Government on its aversion to the tour of projects across the country, saying the governor was part of the discussions that birthed the tour in the first place.
Coordinator of the tour, Mr. Samuel Ajayi, who spoke on behalf of the team in a statement released on Friday, recalled that the governor was not just a party to the tour but he also made sure his deputy, Mrs. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, attended the meeting where the decision was finalised.
The team expressed deep concerns and regrets over the statement credited to the governor, which described the ongoing tour as ill-conceived. It viewed the comment as shocking to all who are familiar with the conception and implementation of the tour, and wondered why it took the governor nearly six months to dissociate the Lagos State government from it.
“Lagos State was duly represented by Deputy Governor, Mrs Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire on the committee set up by the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) to ratify the templates for the tour. The final framework was approved by all state governors without exception,” a part of it read.
“The tour was aimed at easing the formulation of policies by the federal government in partnership with states, thus helping to provide infrastructure for the development of the country.”
It urged the governor to abandon the idea of viewing Lagos as a rival of the Federal government, saying he should embrace the principle of cooperation in governance for the development of Lagos and the country.
“As the team did not want the tour to look political, it engaged those in other professions, including the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Radio Television and Theatre Arts Workers Union (RATTAWU), women leaders, youth leaders, officials from the Nigeria Governors Forum Secretariat and reporters from the nation’s print and electronic media.”
It added that even if governors of some states opted out of the agreement, this would not prevent the team from visiting Federal Government projects in such states, insinuating that Governors Fashola and Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State have something to hide from the public to have rescinded a decision that was collectively reached.
“It is obvious that governors of a certain partisan persuasion are nervous about the impending tour of their states.
“This clearly demonstrates that they have something to hide. If not, why are they afraid of the tour of projects in their states?”
During the occasion of his 2,100th day in office, Fasola had lampooned organisers of the tour, saying the exercise was an attempt to appear busy when the truth is that the Federal Government actually has no project to inspect.
Oshiomhole had also described the tour as a wasteful venture, saying he would not spend the state’s money fending for over 100 people coming to his state to praise him when his projects could speak for him. He was supported by Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, who branded the tour a big scam.
