Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, has restated his administration’s commitment to implementing the Lagos Development Plan, saying his administration has fashioned out a framework to commence the implementation.

The governor, who spoke when a delegation of the UK Department for International Development, led by the Country Representative, Mr. Ben Mellor, paid him a courtesy visit in Alausa, Ikeja, on Tuesday, said his administration was setting up a framework which the permanent secretaries were already working on.

Ambode added, “We should be able to put together issues that are germane to our people and the bottom line has always been that we should do things and carry out programmes that will be of tremendous benefit to the people of Lagos State and that’s what DFID also stands for.

“We will like you to also know that whatever it is that we are doing, will open up areas that we believe will be of benefit to Nigerians in general.”

He said the development plan was geared towards achieving the vision of the government in all sectors on a long term.

The governor pointed out that he remained a firm believer in the basic principles of good governance, which according to him, thrives on accountability and an all inclusive governance.

He restated his commitment to run a transparent and all inclusive government that would not only be accountable, but also be people-driven.

“Lagosians must be able to speak about the kind of government they want. We must also be accountable to them; we should be able to explain to them in every facet of our administration what we are doing and then government should also be participatory,” he said.

Ambode said he had concluded plans to embark on a tour of the 57 local governments in the state, saying it would afford him the opportunity to listen to the challenges of the people first hand and address them accordingly.

“We believe strongly that we should scale up community governance in this state. It is more about communities, its more about our people and what they want,” he added.

He commended the partnership of the state government and the DFID over the years, saying it had not only been a success, but had impacted on the people in no small way.

Mellor, in his remarks, commended Ambode for his strides since he assumed office, just as he noted that his decision to run an all inclusive government was one that conformed to the ideology of the DFID.

He added that the governor’s decision to align ministries and engender public service reforms would not only increase performance-based strategic administration, but would also improve on service delivery to the people.
CREDIT: PUNCH