The Allied Peoples Movement (APM) governorship candidate in Lagos, Laja Adeoye, says voting out the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2027 is necessary to end persistent hardship and unlock inclusive prosperity for residents.

“We are not coming to manage Lagos. We are coming to reset it,” Mr Adeoye declared in a statement on Tuesday.

He insisted that another administration under the same political structure would amount to deferred accountability rather than progress.

Mr Adeoye described the February 6, 2027 governorship election as an opportunity for Lagos residents to choose a new direction. He said the election would determine whether residents were ready to embrace a deliberate reset or continue with the political structure that had governed the state since 1999.

Mr Adeoye described Atunto Eko 1.0, themed ‘Re-engineering Lagos for Inclusive Prosperity’, as a practical alternative to continuity under the APC, adding that Lagos generated about N1.77 trillion in internally generated revenue in 2025, ahead of other states, but noted that the state’s economic performance had not translated into improved living conditions for many residents.

He listed persistent challenges facing Lagos residents to include traffic congestion, flooding, high rents, housing shortages, multiple taxation, unreliable electricity, inadequate basic amenities, emergency response and waste management.

Mr Adeoye also cited forced evictions in communities such as Makoko and Oworonshoki as examples of governance practices that he said lacked adequate consultation and alternative arrangements for affected residents.

He said the APC and its predecessors, the Alliance for Democracy (AD) and Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), operated within a tightly controlled political structure centred on the Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC).

According to him, the structure of APC has limited the opportunity for broader participation in governance.

Mr Adeoye said the 100-point ‘Lagos Promise’ agenda of the APC governorship candidate, Obafemi Hamzat, which includes additional buses, rail extensions, housing and expanded health insurance, was presented as a consolidation of existing achievements.

He, however, stated that many of the challenges persisted or worsened during Hamzat’s tenure as Deputy Governor since 2019, making another administration under the same political structure a postponement of accountability.

Mr Adeoye said the 2023 presidential election result in Lagos, in which the APC lost to Mr Peter Obi, demonstrated growing dissatisfaction among young people and middle-class residents.

He said his Atunto Eko 1.0 blueprint was built around five pillars: affordable healthcare, quality education, job creation through small and medium-scale enterprises, modern infrastructure and security through community policing.

“The blueprint gives a detailed roadmap on how and when to achieve the items, how they would be funded, and how the public and private sectors would play a major role in achieving them,” he said.

Mr Adeoye said the plan targeted about 100,000 direct jobs within two years and up to 1.5 million jobs within four years through technology hubs in Yaba and Ogba, agro-processing centres in Badagry, Epe and Ikorodu, skills academies and the proposed Eko Skill Code programme.

(NAN)