The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate for Lagos State, Jimi Agbaje says he will liberate Lagosians  from political godfatherism if elected into office.

Speaking on Sunday Politics, a live programme on Channels Television, Agbaje said his ‘Free Lagos’ campaign was focused on delivering the people of the state from being subjected to the dictates of one man.

His words: “Let me start from the basics of the Freedom of Information. Lagos is still run like a closed shop. It’s like a private company. Lagos has refused to domesticate the Freedom of Information Bill so we don’t know what plays out in Lagos.

“So, we’re talking about freedom in the sense that we want to be able to have access to how exactly they are running our government. We talk about freedom where in the last 20 years, Lagos has spent some ₦7 trillion and we’re asking, ‘What have we got for ₦7 trillion? Have we got value for money?’

“Now, there is a private company that takes a percentage of that ₦7 trillion and we’re asking, ‘For what purpose?’ There is a private company fund collector, Alpha Beta or whatever that collects it. We don’t even know what the percentage is. It could be 10 or 12, eight or six.

“If you tell me that for every amount of money that Lagos collects or spends, there’s a private company that is collecting, I’m asking, ‘That is taxpayers’ money so why should it be? For what purpose?

“These people that collect money, you don’t see them. You don’t see their staff. When people collect taxes, it is Lagos Inland Revenue Service’s personnel that come.

“It is against standard practice because we don’t see what they are doing and we don’t even know what the percentage is. I don’t see value for money, let’s put it like that. So, it’s freedom from that. It’s not about being legal, it’s about value for money. It’s asking ourselves, ‘What exactly are they doing?’”

On whether he would terminate Alpha Beta’s involvement in the affairs of the state if elected governor, the PDP governorship hopeful reiterated his desire to rid the state of arrogance.

Agbaje further maintained that despite parting ways with a National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu before the 2007 elections, there was no feud between them.

“There has never been a feud between myself and Tinubu. It wasn’t about anger; it was about principle. Don’t forget that even after that, offers were given to me. So, it’s not about that. It’s about principle. It’s not about anger,” he maintained.