I’ll restructure tax system –Gbadamosi, Lagos PDP governorship aspirant
Babatunde Gbadamosi believes that he is the most qualified person to get the governorship ticket of the Lagos State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). As a lawyer turned entrepreneur, he thinks he has the experience to seek elective office and he does not hesitate to tell you that entrepreneurs always make better leaders. He spoke to CHINELO AGINA in Lagos on his aspirations.
Excerpts:
Friday, November 26, 2010
•Gbadamosi
Photo: Sun News Publishing

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Housing and infrastructure
One of the issues militating against Lagos is the issue of housing and infrastructure, and as a player in the property sector, he readily tells you how he intends to tackle it. “It has been done before, and it can be done again. Prof. Wahab Dosunmu was the Minister of Housing during the Shagari administration and we all saw what he achieved nationwide.

The same man is a leading member of the Lagos PDP today. Do you not think that having somebody like that as my leader will translate to a mass-housing programme that Lagosians can be proud of?

Part of my manifesto is to ensure that local governments invest in rural housing so that when they are able to do this, the state government will be able to match what they have been able to achieve. As a player in the housing sector, I have a deep understanding of the issues surrounding accommodation problems in Lagos. One of the problems is the over milking of that sector by the government.

To get a Certificate of Occupancy anywhere in Lagos, you have to pay through your nose, and to get the physical planning approval is another story. After you have paid that, you have to pay LASEMA fees, development levy and strangely enough, you also have to pay Infrastructure Development Charge. My question, which the administration has not been able to answer, is what the development levy is for. This government is operating like the landlord rather than working for the people.

In fact, anything you want to get for the development of your property is centralized in Alausa. If you want to get your documents for a two-storeyed building in Ikorodu or any far-flung city, you have to travel all the way to Alausa and the people at Alausa are so removed from the local situation that they just approve anything. Even when they do, they do it without taking cognizance of how that building might affect the local area.

For instance, when the approval for the Civic Centre on Victoria Island was given, the government did not take cognizance of the parking issues that will arise out of the use of that centre. Now the result is that anytime the centre is put to use, Ozumba Mbadiwe is blocked because of cars packed all over the place.

As far as my administration is concerned, if I am elected, we are going to remove the clogs in Ministry of Physical Planning. We are going to return the bulk of the planning to the Local Authorities, and we will retain what is needed as far as approval is concerned. We are going to abolish the Infrastructure Development Charge because these are some of the things that hinder construction in the state. Construction is not going on the way it ought to, and this has affected the level of development in the state.

Crisis in Lagos PDP
You know that there is crisis and I want to disabuse the mind of people about that. In every political organization, there is always competition and that is what is happening in the party. We give room for everyone’s opinion, though some express it louder than others.

There are perhaps some heated discussions where the noise tends to be high, but it is better than some political organizations where there is graveyard silence. In some of these parties, it is one single person that decides who is going to run for office from the local governments to the governorship level. PDP is not that kind of party. In a place where you have a lot of strong voices, there are bound to be issues and those issues are being ironed out.
The popular misconception in Lagos is that the state chapter of the PDP is not in a position to give the ruling Action Congress of Nigeria a good fight in the election and I totally disagree with it.

Other PDP aspirants
Every politician aspiring for an office believes that he is the best for the job, and I want to tell you that I am not any different. I do believe that I am the best for the job, firstly because I am young enough and the job in Lagos requires someone with agility, vigour and experience that can think on his feet and is easily adaptable.
In the PDP, I am setting an agenda and I intend to do that in Lagos as well. Leading Lagosians requires someone with the heart of a Lion, which I possess. If you look around, you will see that some people are profiting from the turmoil and it needs someone with a brave heart to handle them properly, and I believe I am that person.