Lagos Assembly deserves a strong Speaker —Hanson

June 4, 2015 : Tunde Odesola

Akin Hanson

In this interview with TUNDE ODESOLA, a former Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Motor Vehicle Administration Agency and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Akin Hanson, speaks on the speakership bid of a member, Lagos State House of Assembly, Mrs. Funmi Tejuosho

Why are you rooting for the representative of the Odi-Olowo Mushin constituency 1, Funmi Tejuosho?

It is the whole of the Odi-Olowo Mushin constituency that is supporting the speakership bid of Funmi Tejuosho because she is the most qualified and competent among the lawmakers to occupy the exalted position. She is well grounded in the socio-economic and political dynamics of the state. For instance, her contributions to the development of Lagos State transport system include facilitating the establishment of the first Motor Vehicle Administration centre in Nigeria and the sponsoring of the bill on Temporary Vehicle Tag Law. She is very passionate about the free movement and safety of commuters in Lagos State and the development of Motor Vehicle Administration.

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It is our belief that if you have good people at the helm of affairs in the executive, legislative and judiciary arms of government, things will be better in the state. She is a lawyer and a successful legislator. She has a Master’s degree in law and is currently undergoing a doctorate degree in law. She has headed highly sensitive committees in the Assembly such as Finance and Budget under the Tinubu/Fashola era. She was also a deputy speaker for two years. She truly has the requisite experience. She has the passion to serve the people. In fact, she is one of the most experienced lawmakers in the country because she is going for a fourth term. Tejuosho is the first female legislator to achieve this feat. She is the first woman in Nigeria’s legislative history to head the finance and budget committee. It is instructive to recall that she also moved the motion for Yoruba to be adopted as the official language of business on the floor of the House.

Why was she removed as Deputy Speaker if she has all these attributes?

Even though there is cohesion within the party, you cannot rule out party intrigues and personal differences. Imagine people saying someone is arrogant or proud. Her removal had nothing to do with the mismanagement of funds. She was not engaged in anti-party offences. If you are a woman among men, you should be able to stand up and say this is who you are. She has a very strong personality and she is principled. They may see her as arrogant or proud but she is not. The House of Assembly deserves a strong leader. Some people believe that our revered sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, was very proud but it was not true; he was principled.

Why has the state government been unable to enforce the law against toll collection on public highways by the members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers?

To a large extent, I believe that the government has tried in this regard. There was a law passed to make it illegal for the transport union to collect tolls on the roads. The law was passed based on the agreement between the government and the union. It was ultimately designed to make the union work like other unions. After the passage of that law, there was sanity but in every situation, it’s not a thing that only the law can solve. We need to encourage the union members to be more civil. I think the government has achieved a lot in that respect if you compare what we have now to what we used to experience.

It is believed that there’s a lot of corruption perpetrated by officials running the Lagos State public transport system.

If you look at the regulation, the law establishing Motor Vehicle Administration in Lagos State says that 50 per cent of all revenues accruable to Motor Vehicle Administration Agency should go to transport fund. When they said they mismanaged funds from MVAA, I don’t think that is correct.

Fifty per cent of every penny made under MVAA goes back to transport fund. The fund is used for the enforcement of law. It is also used for the purchase and maintenance of BRT buses and the running of LAMATA. It is from the funds that traffic signals lights across the state are maintained. The remainder of the funds goes into the general revenue funds for the construction of roads, education, health care facilities, among others. In any case, we assess LASTMA’s performance based on how much they make on fines. If they make much money on fines, it means LASTMA is not performing. It means the voluntary compliance that we are striving to achieve has not been achieved.

But if we have less revenue from fines and voluntary compliance is so high such that we don’t have accidents on our roads and we don’t have people driving against traffic, this means LASTMA is performing. This is the ideal we are striving to achieve, not fines. In any case, the transport sector is not all about the revenue; it’s about the safety of citizens. What is the cost of a life in terms of naira and kobo?