PDP blames Buhari for Lagos Okada ban

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has blamed the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) for the ban placed on motorcycles and tricycles in Lagos State popularly known as Keke Napep and Okada ban.

A statement issued by the PDP spokesman, Kola Ologbodiyan, sees the party blaming Buhari who, in 1985, terminated the Lagos Metro Rail Line project started by the government of Alhaji Lateef Jakande.

According to the party, Lagosians won't have been facing the discomfort brought about by the Keke and Okada ban had it been the project was not terminated.

The statement reads: "By now, Lagos state would have been boasting of state-of- the-art transportation infrastructure and facilities with associated economic boom like her peers in other parts of the world.

"It is saddening to note that not only did the termination of the initial metro line slowed down and almost crippled development in Lagos, President Buhari's current administration has also continued to fail to take conclusive step to address the transportation challenges in Lagos, despite outcries by Nigerians.

"Furthermore, leaders of Lagos state have consistently demanded a special status recognition for the state, expectedly, to ease infrastructural quagmire of the state.

"One would have expected that with the level of support Lagosian reportedly gave to President Buhari in 2015 and 2019, Mr. President would have addressed the needs of the state as a commercial nerve center of our nation.

"Moreover, the APC, as a party, has failed in calling out its Federal Government to address the infrastructure challenges in Lagos.

"Such attitude toward the development of a city such as Lagos shows that the APC has no interest in the growth of our nation and the welfare of our citizens.

"However, without prejudice to the reasons adduced by the Lagos state government, for us in the PDP, as a party, which has the interest and wellbeing of the people at heart; alternatives ought to have been put in place before this ban. Such attitude to governance is the marked difference between our party and the anti-people APC", the party said in its statement.

PDP advised the Federal Government to apologize to Lagosians for terminating the Lagos Metro Rail Line project which would have facilitated mass transportation within Lagos and its environs.