President's pace not worrisome, say Lagos lawmakers

Some members of the Lagos State House of Assembly on Monday said that President Muhammadu Buhari's pace of governance since inauguration on May 29 gave no cause for worry.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the lawmakers spoke against the backdrop of complaints from some quarters that the president had been slow in addressing the nation's problems.

Mr Rotimi Olowo, (APC-Somolu 1), told NAN that the president needed time to work on the institutional and structural deficiencies of the country before the masses would begin to appreciate his programmes.

Olowo said: "He assumed duty not long ago and met a lot of structural problems on ground. The president is not omnipresent, he needs to work with people at government Ministries, Departments and Agencies. It is instructive to note that everyone is talking about how to reduce the cost of governance, this involves a lot of underneath activities, which will soon yield results.

"If such a man is coming in and you say he should name ministers immediately and that if he doesn't, he has not performed, it is not so. You cannot build something on nothing; we are talking about re-alignment in government agencies, the rot and structural deficiency in the system, leakages and corruption.

"So, it is better for the president to do the necessary things; he should re-align those agencies and stop the leakages."

In his view, Mr Moshood Oshun, (APC-Lagos Mainland 2), said Buhari would soon end insurgency and fulfil his electoral promises, stressing that the security of the nation would enhance delivery of other dividends of democracy.

" should understand the fact that Buhari needs time to understand what is on ground, and that ending Boko Haram is one of his priorities. He has met with some African leaders since he came to power. He has even released money to fight terrorism in order to demonstrate that it is a priority to him.

"Nigeria's problem is not something that can be solved in a day," he said.

The lawmaker, who lauded the recent Federal Government's financial bail-out for the states of the federation, however, warned that the development could not be a continuous exercise. "We need states that are viable and those that are not viable should pack up," he said.

On his part, Mr Adebisi Yusuff (APC-Alimosho 1), said, "you will see what will happen soon that will surprise those who are saying that Buhari is slow, we should be very careful now. Do you want this man to rush and commit an error? Let us lay a good foundation for Nigeria.

"It seems we are too much in a hurry, the system has been bad for so many years and you want somebody to provide solutions immediately.

"Nigerians should be patient, as the president has already called for support from other countries to hasten development. Soon, they will see the outcome of what the president is doing".