In an interview with Punch, Balogun explained Ambode’s mistakes and why the party disallowed him from getting a second term ticket.
Recalling the achievements recorded during Bola Tinubu and Babatunde Fashola’s administrations, the APC Chairman said, Lagos has a 10-point agenda for development but Ambode failed to continue from where his predecessors stopped.
According to him, some of the points in the agenda include transportation, health, education, environment and security.
“When he (Tinubu) was there, he did a lot in the area of transportation, health, and the environment before he left office after eight years. Babatunde Fashola took over and followed the same programme to the letter and you found development all over the place. When Fashola sought re-election, he won with a very large margin because of his performance. When Ambode took over, at the beginning he was adhering to the programme of the party but after some time, he deviated. That singular mistake cost him his second term, “he said.
Ambode accused of ignoring Fashola’s projects
The party chairman further attributed APC’s refusal to give Ambode a second term ticket to the ex-governor’s decision to abandon projects started by his predecessor, Babatunde Fashola.
Balogun said, “In the areas of roads, there were potholes and the major road projects embarked upon by Fashola were abandoned. These were not part of our dreams and vision for Lagos. We plan to have very good management of wastes and complete projects. We did not plan to have abandoned projects and potholes everywhere… that was what cost him the second term that he wanted.
“Some of the projects Fashola embarked on were the railway and the express road from Mile 2 to Badagry. He (Ambode) abandoned them. We also had conspicuous housing projects, one in Ilubirin that he abandoned while the waste management system was run aground. As a party, we have to be responsive to what the people want otherwise we would become a failure”.
Ambode was a civil servant for 27 years and a financial consultant before he became Lagos State Governor from 2015 to 2019.
