₦airaland Forum

HzRF:
Yar'Adua also pay fine that worth the project?

Enough of the lies

Jakande Blames Buhari, Shagari for Failed Lagos Metro Project


Lagos — First civilian governor of Lagos State, Alhaji Lateef Jakande, yesterday said the duo of former President Shehu Shagari and former military ruler, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), were to blame for the failed metro-rail project, which he initiated to solve the traffic problem in the metropolis in 1983.

Jakande, who made the disclosure at his Ilupeju residence in Lagos while speaking with newsmen as part of activities marking his 80th birthday, said it was Shagari, whom he described as a good friend, that ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) not to release N70 million mobilisation fund for the metro line project. According to him, "President Shagari was angry for two reasons. First, I did not congratulate him on his re-election in 1983. Second, he stopped the fund because I was not his party member"

Explaining how Shagari and Buhari worked against the metro-rail project, Jakande said there was delay after the N700 million metro-line project was awarded to a French firm with the arrangement to first pay N70 million and pay the rest in the space of two years.

He said the delay compelled him to ask "my commissioner for works to investigate why the N70 million mobilisation fund was not released. The commissioner investigated and discovered that it was President who asked the Central Bank of Nigeria not to release the money.

"I was told President Shagari was angry because I did not congratulate him after his controversial election and because I won election on the platform of an opposition party. I later approached him and explained the problem facing execution of the project and that CBN refused N70 million reserved for its take-off.

"President Shagari said it was because there was fuel crisis. He said the CBN governor would visit him that evening and that he would get back to me after talking to him on the metro-line project fund. I quickly replied that I would wait for him since I considered him paramount to undo the knots on the release of the fund," he said.

Jakande who clocks 80 today, said: "The CBN governor finally arrived, and President Shagari raised the issue of N70 million metro-line project fund. But the CBN governor said the fund cannot be released at once. He asked me to withdraw as many times as possible citing the reasons of bad economy and increasing fuel crisis at the period."

The former governor explained that he had resolved to withdraw the money in line with the advice of the CBN governor, "but the military coup of Gen. Buhari stopped the process".

He said after the Buhari administration took off, the then military administrator of Lagos State, Air Commodore Gbolahan Mudashiru, initially pledged to complete the project.

"I was in the office of Mudashiru one day when I heard that the metroline project had been cancelled despite the fact that there was an initial promise by the Mudashiru administration that the metro line project would be executed without let or hindrance. This is what Buhari has done to Lagos State," Jakande said.

Commenting on his decision to serve as a minister under the military regime headed by the late despotic leader, Gen. Sani Abacha, Jakande said he had no regret serving his fatherland between 1993 and 1994 as minister of works and housing.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200907230352.html

Though I do not believe some of the things said about Buhari, owing to how dirty politics is, but this one I must definitely do my first ever independent research on the ALLEDGED characterisation of GMB as a man who queued up behind another country's man AGAINST his own country's interest.

At least my papas and elders are still alive. With some very senior Profs in history and international relations and political science around, I will be better informed about this charge against GMB.

Don't forget; there are always at least two sides to every story, sometimes more than two.

BackDatAssUp:
www.nairaland.com/attachments/2041668_untitled_jpegf00b416e41190686e1165a3b44a1bf51

lolxxxxx

babadee1:
Don't forget; there are always at least two sides to every story, sometimes more than two.

yeah and that is why the asking to know