Criminals Were My Competitors As Governor—Fashola

Former governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Raji Fashola, on Wednesday explained how he tackled the issue of insecurity in the state while he was at the helm of affairs.

Fashola, during his ministerial screening at the Senate on Wednesday morning, told the lawmakers that the government must be sincere with the issue of security of lives and properties of the citizens it governs.

He further said while in government in Lagos State, he viewed criminals as his competitors and that his major goal was always to win.

“My attitude as governor was to see criminals as competitor and in competition, I must win,” the immediate governor of Lagos State said.

“My job was to ensure that nobody was robbed; for every citizen that was robbed, I had failed. So, I had to get it right and be ahead of the criminals,” Fashola said while answering a question at the red chambers of the National Assembly on state police.

Fashola stressed that he totally supports the call for community policing as it is being practised in advance countries. He said every state must not start it, but only for those who can afford to fund it. He further allayed the fears that state police might be hijacked by politicians.

“We should look at it from the area of security of the citizens rather than the political implication that might arise from it,” the ministerial nominee further said.