Oba Akiolu of Lagos

Kazeem Ugbodaga

Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu has accused former Nigeria’s President, Olusegun Obasanjo of being the reason behind Lagos not being granted a special status till this moment.

The National Assembly last week defeated a bill sponsored by Senator Oluremi Tinubu to grant Lagos a special status

Akiolu, who spoke during the 3rd Town Hall Meeting of Governor Akinwnumi Ambode for Lagos Central Senatorial District, said Obasanjo had the opportunity to have granted Lagos a special status during his eight years tenure, but that the former president never did it in spite of the pressure mounted on him.

According to Akiolu, “Obasanjo is the cause of Lagos not getting a special status,” adding that he personally led eminent Lagosians to meet him during his tenure to ask for a special status for Lagos.”

He said Obasanjo told him and others that he had already drafted the special status plan for Lagos, but lamented that the former president never fulfilled that promise, saying that if he had done it since then, the issue of the National Assembly turning down Senator Tinubu’s bill would not have arisen.

Akiolu stated that if the late President, Umaru Yar’Ardua had been alive, he would have granted Lagos a special status.

“Yar’Ardua had promised the grant Lagos a special status. If Yar’Ardua had not died, it would have happened by now,” he said.

The monarch, however, said it was a matter of time as Lagos would certainly be accorded a special status, while berating the National Assembly for turning down the bill.

Akiolu also expressed worry over the spate of kidnapping in Lagos despite the efforts of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to provide security, calling for the establishment of Local Government Security Committee to work with the police to nip kidnapping in the bud.

Also Jide Jomoh, a House of Representatives member said what Senator Tinubu asked was just one per cent economic assistance from the federation account to Lagos, but believed that the issue would not die as it must be done.

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Prince Tajudeen Olusi added that a special status for Lagos was necessary as the state harboured all Nigerians in its abode.

He said the lawmaker should be made to know that whatever status Lagos was being given was not meant for the indigenes alone as all Nigerians would benefit from the gesture.