The Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, has expressed confidence that the governoship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Akinwunmi Ambode, will build on the achievements of his administration.
Fashola who spoke on Tuesday at the presentation of the Lagos State Development Plan at the Lagos House, Ikeja, explained that the plan, expected to run from 2012-2025, would depend largely on the ability of successive governments to implement the policies diligently.
The governor added that some of the components of the plan were already being implemented by his administration, saying the successive administrations would be saddled with the responsibility of completing the implementation of the vision.
Fashola expressed optimism that Ambode’s contribution during his stint as the Accountant General of the state from 2007 to 2012 would put him in a good position to understand the policies and carry on when his (Fashola) tenure ended on May 29, 2015.
He said, “One of the things that helped me most from the first day I took this job was that from the day I arrived office, I knew the Head of Service, I knew all of the permanent secretaries who were going to work with me. I knew almost all the directors and I knew how the government worked because I was part of the team that made it work”.
The governor said Ambode was also part of the brains behind the LSDP at the birth of the plan in 2009, adding that the drafting of the new economic plan for the state was to promote the state and make it African model megacity by 2025.
Fashola enjoined residents to buy into the plan as their own and work with the government to ensure the successful implementation of the plan.
Earlier, the Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Ben Akabueze, said the LSDP was borne out of the need to harness various documents articulating the vision of Lagos as Africa`s megacity.
He stated that the plan provided the framework to guide private and public investments in government programmes.
“The purpose of the development plan is to provide overall direction for the growth and development of the state.
“It will provide a framework by which all sectors of the economy can direct their energies and contribute to the improvement of the quality of life people in the state. It will set the overarching long term framework for government’s planning and budget system,” he said.
Akabueze added that the plan would focus on developing the key areas of the economy, environment, infrastructure and security, adding that successful implementation would make the state a model city by 2025.
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