Obafemi Hamzat, the APC’s Lagos governorship candidate and the state’s incumbent deputy governor, pledged Thursday to eliminate unauthorized levies and untraceable charges on businesses across the state, making the commitment at the Independence Day edition of The Platform, organized by the Covenant Nation.
To address the overlap between state and local government charges, Hamzat proposed establishing a State Economic Council. The body, he said, would coordinate revenue policies directly with local council leadership to harmonize levies and eliminate ad hoc junction collections. He indicated the council would meet regularly with all 57 local government areas and local council development areas across Lagos State.
“One of the things we will create is a State Economic Council where, as a government, we meet with all local governments to streamline the process. We know they are independent, but we are attending to the same citizens. No one should stand at junctions collecting anything from anybody,” he said.
Responding to the issue of arbitrary fee collections, Hamzat acknowledged that commercial operators, commonly called Danfo drivers, face continuous collection points along transit routes from road transport agents known as “agbero.” He noted that multiple collections at a single route can strip operators of margins needed to maintain their vehicles and sustain livelihoods.
Hamzat said once commercial operators pay their designated official fees, they should be free from further roadside interference. “Businesses must know what they are required to pay. The moment they pay it, they must be left alone so we stop pulling the rug from under them,” he added.
The question critics at the session raised, though, is the one his supporters did not answer: why has none of this happened yet, with him already inside government?
Hamzat used the The Platform event to acknowledge shortcomings in the administration’s record while highlighting what he described as progress recorded by successive APC administrations. He said Lagos could not afford to ignore the improvements made since 1999 but acknowledged that “not everything” had been achieved.
On waste management, Hamzat told the town hall that Lagos was bringing in about 160 additional waste trucks and building transfer loading stations, each capable of handling about 2,500 tonnes of waste. He said the procurement of those trucks was already at an advanced stage.
Two material recovery facilities and a waste-to-energy plant at Agbara are also part of the plan, with the plant expected to process about 3,000 metric tons of waste, he confirmed.
The Olusosun landfill, Hamzat said, had not exceeded its usefulness. Efforts were underway to improve operations at the site and reduce the volume of waste deposited there, including the construction of a transfer loading station to improve efficiency. He added that better sorting and processing infrastructure at the facility would extend its operational lifespan significantly.
Hamzat, pressed on his priorities for his first 100 days in office, said his administration would establish a dedicated Child Welfare Agency to oversee the well-being of children in Lagos.
The APC candidate, who is also the state’s incumbent deputy governor, said his vision included reducing the time Lagos residents spend travelling from their homes to their places of work or business, an assurance he gave to the Independence Day town hall audience. He pointed to ongoing rail and road infrastructure investments as part of the framework for achieving that goal.
The candidates addressed the town hall organized by Pastor Poju Oyemade, where they presented their programs and responded to challenges confronting residents. Hamzat also proposed a State Wealth Fund as a different funding approach for the next decade, arguing Lagos needed to plan beyond immediate political cycles.
The deputy governor said he had spent about 20 years working in different government capacities and understood the challenges facing the state from both the public and private sectors.
The agbero pledge is the clearest test of that claim. Danfo operators have heard versions of this promise before. What they have not yet seen is a State Economic Council.
