Details Of Tollgate Ownership Should Be Presented To The Public - Bode George

 Former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Bode George has asked the Lagos State Government to prove that the son of an All Progressives Congress leader, Seyi Tinubu, does not own or control the Lekki tollgate.

 

In a statement titled “We Must Withdraw from the Brink” and released on Friday February 19, George also questioned the relationship between Minister of Sports, Sunday Dare and the Lekki Concession Company. He also wondered why tolls are being collected from Lagosians when the Lekki-Ikoyi Tollgate was ''built from scratch with taxpayers money.''

 

George said; 

 

“We are demanding that the Lagos State Government through the Freedom of Information Act publishes the names of those who are managing the Toll Gates.

“We do remember however that there was a buy-back several years ago returning the control and ownership of the Admiralty Tollgate to the Lagos State Government. The Lekki-Ikoyi Tollgate was built from scratch with taxpayers money.

“How then can anyone/company inexplicably make a legal claim to the Lekki toll gates? Again, what is the relationship between Seyi Tinubu and Lekki Concession Company?

“Equally, what is the relationship between Sunday Dare and the Lekki Concession Company? We all know that Sunday Dare until he became Minister last year was Bola Tinubu’s Man Friday. There are too many untidy, dirty, stinking intimations here. That’s why we demand that the details of the tollgate ownership should be presented to the public immediately.”

 

George who further stated that the Lagos state government should demolish the tollgate and build a monument since it is the epicentre of the #EndSARS protests where unarmed demonstrators were shot, also added that there is nowhere in the world where a single stretch of road would have two toll plazas as is the case along the Lekki-Epe Expressway.

 

He said; 

 

“In fact how much is Lagos State earning from these two tollgates per day, per month, and annually? It is alleged that an estimated N400m is collected on both tollgates everyday. If we are wrong, let them bring out their books and tell us how this humongous money is being spent.

“I have gone to this length to illustrate what could go wrong when there is a brazen interloper and a destructive tin-pot despot who has handcuffed the government of our state.

“This overbloated character is obsessed with the interests of the privileged few to the detriment of the majority of our citizens.”

 

On the clash between farmers and herdsmen in the country, Bode George said; 

 

“The corralling and the ranching of cows are the model in Argentina, Brazil and all other beef-producing nations of the world.

“This is the time that President Muhammadu Buhari demonstrates a rallying unifying leadership to bring all our people together.

“Surely, this is not the time for ethnic or sectarian jingoism. This is the time for healing. This is the time to mend the broken places and rectify the pervasive wrongs.”